The last post was about collecting the data. Once you have collected all of the data, the most important thing to do with the data is to revisit the original vision.

You as the leader must set a crisis management plan. When you revisit your vision you’ll be able to take the next most logical steps.

1. Communicate. Communicate. Communicate. All communication should refect the original vision and purpose of your company – no matter who you are communicating with.

2. Select a crisis management team. Get a cross section of people who can help analyze all data from different view points. Getting people to the table who can ask questions from different disciplines will maximize effectiveness. Help to empower your team.

3. Partner. Select an outside agency to help you begin to look at possible solutions. It is difficult to make great decisions when you try to manage a crisis from within without outside input.

Crisis comes about when an unpleasant occurrence comes as a surprise. Rarely is this surprise the responsibility of one person. There are usually layers of problems that need to be dealt with. While most crisis management is dealt with in the strategic planning process in crisis preparedness, rarely is every contingency covered – and the root cause is not always obvious.

Great leaders, along with their crisis management team and their partners, will be able to move towards resolution and will be able to reveal what learning happened in the face of crisis. Remembering your vision, remember how and why you are doing what you do, how and why your company does what it does and communicating that vision throughout the crisis management process with bring credibility to you as a leader.

Leah Henderson
President, Leah Henderson & Associates

In order to figure out how to fix, how to restore, how to get back to status quo, you have to figure out what happened, how it happened and then what to do about it.

In my last post, I wrote about some important paperwork that disappeared. The disappearance of that paperwork was going to cost someone a sizeable amount of money if it wasn’t found. If you’ve been reading, the Boss and the Assistant Boss had begun an investigation and the way that they were going about it was shutting everyone down who could be helpful.

Before conducting an investigation, decide first how you are going to treat the people you need to help you figure out what went wrong. Do you value the people around you? Do you value the team?

When people are interviewed there are a few steps that you can take that will assist in creating a safe and transparent environment that will help everyone know that they are valued.

1. Make sure that you are asking everyone the same questions. You might want to make a log sheet where you can record the answers of each person interviewed ensuring that each person is asked the same questions.
2. When you begin to take notes, do it in a manner that allows the interviewee visual access to what you are writing. In doing so, you are allowing the person to be assured that what they are saying is being recorded correctly.
3. When speaking to the person, use their name. You are not just collecting data, you are speaking to a person. Let them know that you know that.
4. Observe body language. Does the person you’re speaking with seem closed? Look at the body language. You do this instinctively everyday when you are speaking with people you know well. You don’t have to become an expert in studying body language. Use what you know. Interview someone in the way that you would like to be interviewed if you felt closed off.
5. If the person you are interviewing begins to become agitated and their voice gets louder, remain calm and speak more softly. People instinctively follow others’ lead in nervous situations. If you are calm and speaking softly, the other person will more than likely follow your lead.

These crisis management techniques work in many situations. Whether you are trying to figure out how your reservation got lost, where some paperwork went, there was a flood in your neighborhood, or thousands of dollars of materials were delivered to the wrong company in the wrong country. Keep in mind that there is a solution to the problem. Remaining calm, being thorough, and valuing others throughout the process will help to expedite the route to solution.

Leah Henderson, President
Leah Henderson & Associates

An older gentleman with a lot of wisdom and an affable manner agreed to be my mentor in my endeavor to learn the rules of system. (I smile as I write this, for all I know, he could have been in his late thirties. When I was in my late teens, late 30’s seemed really old).

He would show up at my desk giving me pearls of wisdom any time the rumor mill would begin to get started. We never met one-on-one with me asking questions and him giving lengthy explanations. What I learned from him was one pearl at time.

One particular day, some important paperwork was missing. Paperwork came into the office through my desk. It was my job to log the paperwork in, to check the names on the route sheet where the paperwork needed to go to make it’s rounds around the department, then send it on its way. Normally everything went like clockwork but one day, something went wrong and the office hub-bub began.

The first thing that happened was for the Department Head and the Next in Line to come check the logs. The paperwork had been logged in and the carbon copy of the routing sheet was present. Temporarily at least, I was in the clear. As the Department Head and the Next in Line moved away from my desk, my Mentor showed up with one of his pearls. He simply said with a smile, “Watch your back, the first thing that people do after finding a problem is to begin to Lay The Blame.”

What I have learned over the years is that in the presence of poor leadership and in absence of trust, some people will do many things that will stall the solution to a problem. What happened that day told everyone in the department that there was an absence of trust. Lots of time and energy was wasted as everyone who could possibly have been involved in that mistake (whether they were part of the mistake or not) as well as the solution, began to withdraw, to conceal, and to hesitate to offer any information or help.

Getting teams to work together towards a solution means helping everyone feel that the environment is safe. Laying The Blame destroys trust. Once someone has been a part of a system where revealing information brings them fear, humiliation and shame, it will be difficult to begin to help that person to feel safe to become part of a new system where trust can be built.

Trust is one of the things that is a limited commodity in America’s workplace today. Are you in a place where you feel that you can trust the leadership? Are you in a place cognitively and emotionally where you engender trust to the people around you? Being trustworthy doesn’t mean that you are infallible. Being trustworthy means that you have a good idea about what you will do when a crisis arises, large or small, that creates an environment where people feel safe to become part of the solution.

Leah Henderson, President
Leah Henderson & Associates

Nineteen days of 90 degree heat in Atlanta with little rain.

As some of you may know, I love gardening. This morning I went to survey the damage of nearly three weeks of neglect, 90 degree heat and little rain has had on my flower beds. Weeds have attempted to take over. Flowers are few and leaves are wilted. Some of my more delicate bushes are even showing signs of stress.

As I watered and watched as things began to perk up with a little attention, it occurred to me how alike people and plants are in times of stress.

I read an article about plants, heat and drought stress http://tiny.cc/IssRu . “Plants have stress hormones that they produce naturally and that signal adverse conditions and help them adapt….” People also have ways to protect themselves during times of crisis…it’s called fight or flight. That is our base biological reaction to crisis. However, we also have another way to deal with stress and that is our ability to think.

Being able to think, to make choices during a crisis has saved me from having too many adverse effects from stress. In the beginning of a crisis, there are emotions that begin to rise up inside of us. Our first automatic reaction is to panic. What I have found is that you can choose to panic or not.

Like the June of 2009 heat, the heat has poured on over the past several weeks as each day has brought a new crisis with my mom. Each new crisis has brought the opportunity to panic, to over react, to snap, to run, to fight. However, I have the opportunity also to think and decide how I want to react. More times than not, I have chosen not to react the way I don’t want to and to act the way I want to.

Many times I have not had an opportunity to walk away, to count to 10. I just needed to decide how I wanted to act and to make quick decisions, the kind that are called “quick thinking on your feet”.

This kind of thinking takes knowing that you have the choice to react or act. It takes knowing what kind of thinking skills you need for different situations. It takes mental practice. It takes self discipline.

Result? My blood pressure has stayed stable. My mind has stayed fairly clear. My emotions have stayed fairly stable. It’s hard to watch someone you love suffer, and at the same time, try to manage those around you who are reacting and panicking, so I haven’t done this perfectly every time. However, at the end of the day, things are going well and I feel good.

And back to my original thoughts. With a little watering plants will quickly respond. I’m fortunate enough to have supportive people around me. I have good friends who have called, listened, taken me out for a little fun and conversation. I have good friends who have sent me jokes, sent a word of encouragement, and generally been there for me and for all of these things I have been truly grateful.

What are your own reactions to emergencies, crises, and chronic situational stress? Are you prepared to use skills that will help the situation? Have you developed a supportive team?

Let me know.

Leah Henderson
President, Leah Henderson & Associates

Dealing with a personal crisis is very similar to dealing with a business crisis. I’m going to blog for a few days about things I’ve learned about crisis management. Any comments will be greatly appreciated.

Leah Henderson
President, Leah Henderson & Associates

Official Notice!

Hello!  I want to thank everyone who has subscribed to my blog.  This is the official notice that I have changed my RSS feed options which will mean that you’ll need to come to my website and resubscribe.  www.leahhenderson.com I’ve also added an email option if you’d rather have my blog updates emailed to you rather than having Leah Henderson Online go to your blog reader.

Every week I am learning something new about the mechanics of my blog.  The Atlanta Bloggers Meetup and the Atlanta Wordpress Meetup are two groups that I have attended.  The people who come there are extremely helpful, kind, and generous with their knowledge.

Learning Something New

I’m taking my own advice and spending some time learning how to work on my own blog site.  Everyone is going to have to take their game to the next level.  This has been a great experience.  Knowledge is empowering. As important as knowledge is, building a community on which to rely is also empowering.  I’m grateful to all the experts who have collaborated with me to take me to this level of expertise outside of my field.

Thanks to all!  Don’t forget to subscribe or resubscribe!

Leah Henderson

Remember when you were a kid and you couldn’t wait to get out and play with your friends?  Do you remember how wonderful it felt to not have a care in the world of make believe?  Whether you were involved in a neighborhood baseball game pretending to be Mickey Mantle or traipsing through the woods, swinging on vines, pretending to be Tarzan, skating boarding thinking you were Tony Hawk, or sliding down a rainbow with Rainbow Brite, there was a release of childlike enthusiasm and the feeling of fun.

This is Memorial Day Weekend. Everyone seems to be cutting back. Just don’t cut back on fun!

Make a pact with yourself that this weekend you are going to pack some troubles away, rekindle that place of make believe and just have some fun with friends.  If the weather is going to be rainy, then plan on getting wet in the rain. Don’t let the weather spoil the fact that you are going to have some fun.  Make the rain part of the fun! If you’re going to have a picnic, make some time for some serious cloud watching. Find a poodle, a dragon, a castle in the clouds.  Enjoy whatever comes your way. Watch for the unusual.

Your day doesn’t have to be perfect. When you were a kid, even the dark didn’t stop the fun if everyone was into hide and go seek in the dark. Imagine yourself having no cares.

Rejuvenate. Enjoy. Act silly. Have some fun!

Leah Henderson

1. A written agenda is a must.  The items on the agenda?

• Objective
• Attendees
• Date, Time and Duration
• Topic
• What to Bring

2. Get as much information out to participants or ask for suggestions/feedback prior to the meeting. The benefits? Everyone has an idea of where the face-to-face meeting is going to go. By asking for suggestions/feedback prior to the meeting, you, as the person calling the meeting, you can tell from responses or lack thereof, those who have buy-in, or will otherwise be effective meeting participants.

3. Assign one person to be the meeting scribe. Getting someone to take notes during the meeting allows the facilitator to follow-up after the meeting without sacrificing being fully present during the meeting. You can’t do both. If there is no one available to take notes, the next best thing is to use a voice recorder. Let everyone know you are recording for the purpose of follow-up.

4. Get a meeting follow-up date commitment.

5. End the meeting on time. No matter how interesting the meeting topic is, no matter how great participation is, end the meeting on time. You and others have other things to do.

6. Follow up. List pertinent information, tasks to be completed and assignments, as well as the date that the follow-up meeting will take place.

Get the reputation for respecting other’s time.  Get information out, keep the meeting organized, take notes, end on time, and follow up. You can run a great meeting and increase meeting productivity by following these simple rules.

Leah Henderson, President, Leah Henderson & Associates

1. The most important reason and rationale for not being on Twitter is because while there are many people posting informational links, the aggregation of the latest news, and great motivational “Tweets” in any given hour, someone will inevitably Tweet what they had for breakfast, lunch or dinner.  It’s annoying.  Stay away.

2. People on Twitter are always asking questions, wanting to get expert opinions and insights. What is up with that? Don’t people know that you could pay good money for a book or a seminar to get the one line of text that you need to answer the question that they have?

3. Twitter is another new school way for building relationships.  You’re old school.  Even though Twittering would bring you into the beginning of some new widespread influence, you prefer the old school way of doing business.  (Now where is that list of businesses to cold call that you made last month?)

4. You wrote a sizzling blog post.  People will probably read it just because you hit “Publish”.  And you have a monthly newsletter, too!  There are those several thousand people who could be instantly informed of your great blog post, and people could possibly “ReTweet” your post notification, but those probably aren’t the people you want reading your posts anyway, right? (You can always announce your great post at next month’s networking meeting you go to also.)

5. The biggest reason not to Twitter? Why would anyone share any information that could benefit anyone else for free?  “Sharing is Caring”.  Bah, Humbug! on that idea.  Why would anyone want to join in on a worldwide conversation, be up to the minute on what people are concerned about, encouraged about, or sharing a laugh about?

Besides, someone might Tweet what they had for breakfast.

Jockey Calvin Borel, nicknamed “Bo-Rail”, rode Mine That Bird to victory in  Saturday’s Run For the Roses.  Mine That Bird had 50-1 odds of being a winner in the Kentucky Derby held Saturday, May 1st.  They won in the most surprising victory since the 1930’s. Susan Boyle, Britain’s Got Talent’s astounding performance after being mocked by the audience and judges, now is the subject most downloaded video from uTube.

Calvin Borel’s professional work history?  He’s worked 25 years to become an overnight sensation.  The 2009 Kentucky Derby is not the first time he had guided a horse to victory.  It is not the first horse that won whose odds of winning made the victory stunning.

Susan Boyle has been singing in amateur performances for about 20 years.  Her April performance on Britain’s Got Talent is not the first time she has stunned crowds with her ability.  It was the first time she got international attention.

Everyday, someone sends me an email to tell me how they can make me an overnight success if I follow their plan.  Everyday on Twitter, someone follows me and then attempts to tempt me with their formula for making a fortune using Twitter.  An overnight success rarely happens overnight.  I’m not saying that it never happens.  I’m just saying that most of the time, years of work went into making the dream come true.

“Overnight” is that moment in time when opportunity, hard work, and preparation all come together in that defining moment in history.  It is that moment when you are taken seriously and all of the effort that you have put into your work is recognized.  It is the moment when all the perfect conditions come together and you are ready to meet the challenge.

Are you prepared for your challenge as business owner?  Take the following short assessment and rate yourself in 10 critical areas for business development and success.  I will personally get back to you with the results. Are You Ready For The Challenge?

Leah Henderson, President

“The greatest challenge to any thinker is stating the problem in a way that will allow a solution.” – Bertrand Russel