Leading in the Fog

In a crisis your team doesn’t need a map. They need a compass.

Your job as a leader is to have the map. To have the clear vision. To know the confident way forward through the wilderness.

But one of the hardest times in leadership is when the path isn’t clear. When you can’t see the destination because you’re standing in thick fog.

This is when your instinct is to overcompensate. To pretend to your team like you’re not shaking and terrified. To force a confidence you don’t have. To talk like you have a map when you don’t.

Don’t do this.

They can tell when you’re faking it. And pretending to know will only destroy their trust in you.

Leading in the fog is hard. But it’s also a great opportunity to rise to your best as a leader. It’s a chance to be the rock when everything around you is crumbling. It’s when you lead not by having all the answers but by giving people all the certainty they can handle.

Here’s how:

Anchor on the Mission, Not the Plan.

The plan is temporary. The mission is permanent. When the details of your strategy change, it’s your job to return people again and again to your core purpose. The how might be in question but the why must be etched in stone. The mission is the pole star that will guide you through the fog, even when you can only see a few feet in front of you.

Communicate What You Know and What You Don’t.

Be honest about the situation. Tell your team exactly what you know to be true. Then tell them exactly what you don’t know. This is not a sign of weakness. It’s a sign that you trust them with the truth. It increases your credibility and makes them partners in the uncertainty instead of passengers in a car being driven by you.

Make the Next Step Obvious.

When you can’t see the forest, make the trees crystal clear. Your team can’t be paralyzed by the magnitude of the uncertainty. Break it down into the single most important thing you need to do right now. What is the next hill we need to take? Focus on the next, immediate, achievable step and you’ll build momentum and a sense of control in an otherwise chaotic environment.

You don’t have to see the whole path. Just light up the next few feet.

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REMEMBER

In a crisis your team doesn’t need a map. They need a compass.

REFLECT

1. Am I more afraid of the uncertainty itself or of my team seeing my uncertainty?

2. In our current situation what do I know for sure and what am I pretending to know?

RESPOND

What is the single most important next step for my team that I can make crystal clear this week?