In modern times, a political perspective has seeped into every nook and cranny of life.
Especially in areas of leadership.
By political perspective, I do not mean a particular party or ideology but rather a political way of doing things. Life has become a lot more about perception than reality. Leaders are far more concerned with how things look than how they are.
There are whole PR firms that are hired during the crisis to advise you on how to rewrite the narrative and try to control the perception of the public, train you on “how to play the game,” if you will. So it is no longer about doing what is right, but instead doing things that look right, regardless of what is happening. It creates such a cynical world and is entirely dishonest.
It is the norm, however, and is the opposite, and I would even say the absence of leadership. There should be leaders evaluating the crisis and teams determining action steps based on honest assessments about what suits those involved and, more importantly, all concerned.
This idea of creating a narrative instead of owning the truth only ends in people believing the organization is lying. It assumes that people are ignorant and even stupid, but this is not the case, and the organization only fools itself.
I’m not saying they have only an idealistic approach because they can become unrealistic. I am saying evaluate the crisis on your part, collaborate for solutions, and then step it out. The only purpose of crisis management can not be to make the organization look good; it must be to deal with the crisis and bring solutions for the organization and all those impacted by it.
This attitude towards dealing with public problems is not new. It reminds me of the biblical account of Jesus being tried and crucified. Pilate, knowing full well that Jesus was innocent, allowed him to be taken and crucified. Pilate felt the political pressure, and he created a new perception. He said, you can take him and do what you want, but I wash my hands of this situation. He made a literal symbolic gesture and washed his hands to show he was not responsible for what was happening. However, it didn’t change the fact that he was involved, and he allowed an innocent man to be judged because of his fear of political repercussions.
Another look at the same situation was how the religious leaders acted when Judas realized what he had done, brought the money back, and threw it on the ground. They took the money back, and Judas killed himself. Then they, in their religious piety, had the nerve to say, “Because it was blood money, it couldn’t be put back in the main treasury,” so they bought a field with it instead as if that absolved them of being the very people who used that same money to have a man killed.
A leadership crisis is a common occurrence. Great leaders are excellent managers of conflict and problems. The best leaders never even consider making things look good; they are more concerned with things turning out well.
All of us leaders of organizations need to ensure we are not falling prey to modern-day thinking concerning dealing with crises. Let us live in reality and responsibility and shun the dark places of low integrity and pretense. Let us do what IS right, not what FEELS right, not what looks right, not what changes the focus to something else, not blame-shifting, just purely assessing issues, planning and collaborating solutions, then employing action steps and taking responsibility to fix it.
That is what leaders do in a crisis.
