What Your Employees Think When You Panic

RL051111Every leader will face a workplace crisis at one time or another in their careers. And, whether it’s relatively small, such as the printer running out of ink on the last page of your big presentation, or pretty big, like an international recall of your product, you, as a leader, are faced with a decision – to panic or not to panic?

Your choice to remain calm or go off the deep end not only affects your ability to manage the crisis, it could also immediately impact your team’s respect and trust in your ability to lead a team. The moment you lose your cool and go into panic mode, your employees start thinking several things:

We’re Going Down!
Panic spreads like wildfire. So, when your team sees you lose control, they instantly think the worst. Before you know it, the rumor has spread and grown and now everyone’s saying that you caused the entire company to fail and everyone to lose their jobs.

Chill Out and Pull It Together!
Your employees know that unforeseen events can happen out of the blue, and they’re not going to fault you for a situation that was out of your control. However, they will fault you if you don’t control your reaction. They want you to chill out, suck it up, and deal with it.

Why Are You In Charge?
People expect those in leadership roles to know how to handle problems and emergencies. If you’re not dealing with the unexpected very well, then your team is going to question your leadership abilities and why you were given that position in the first place.

Tell Us What To Do!
If your department or business is truly facing a crisis, then your employees are going to want to help. They don’t expect you to fix everything on your own. Instead, they want to see you stay calm, create a plan, and delegate responsibilities so everything can be resolved as quickly as possible.

It’s in times of crisis, chaos, and turmoil that you verify whether or not you deserve your leadership title. So, make sure you’re ready to handle any crisis with a calm, focused attitude that reassures your employees they’ve placed their trust in the right person. It will go along way in maintaining productivity and employee engagement, and prevent the crisis from growing.

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