Jim Lukaszewski on crisis leadership: a boss sets the tone through behavior and language, and must take responsibility for managing victims during a crisis.
One of the most important questions in managing crisis situations is what should the boss be doing? And there are really three to five things this boss should be doing, the most important of which is to set the tone for the response itself. That is through his or her behavior, his or her language, his or her actions. The they're reflected by everybody else in the organization. So if the boss feels put upon a victim himself or herself, then that's how everybody else behaves. Setting both the behavioral norms and the tone for the response is the primary responsibility of leadership in crisis. And the second one is the management of victims. The only person who can really manage the victims effectively with the organization is the person who runs it. This is a primary responsibility in CRIS.
James E. Lukaszewski and Helio Fred Garcia discuss writing Influencing Leaders together
