The Psychology Behind Effective Crisis Leadership

It is often said that a strong vision makes a good leader. But in a crisis, people don’t need a vision to inspire them–they’re already raring to act. Instead, they need what psychologists call “holding”–leaders who acknowledge their emotions and give them a sense of context and reality. Holding allows people to channel their desire to act into something purposeful, and it allows them to more fully be themselves (and thus to be more mentally healthy). People never forget how managers treated them when they were facing loss. It is leaders who hold through this crisis, the author believes, who will keep their organizations afloat and to whom we’ll turn when time comes to articulate a vision for the future.