When The Going Gets Tough: Effective Leadership In Challenging Times

Summary 

The saying “hard times create strong leaders, strong leaders create good times, good times create weak leaders, weak leaders create hard times” seems applicable now more than ever. But rather than seeing the challenges, problems, or even trauma that you may be facing as an anchor weighing you down and dwelling in the struggle to survive let alone thrive, there is an alternative for you.

As a leader, by harnessing the benefits of Post Traumatic Growth (PTG) you can overcome such challenges and turn them into a new appreciation for life, renewed inner strength and resilience, able to explore new possibilities, improve your relationships, as well as supporting others, leading to both personal and professional success. 

Watching the BBC's Fergal Keane recently talking about living with PTSD following a lifetime of war reporting, from Belfast during the Troubles to genocide in Rwanda, to Iraq, Afghanistan, and Ukraine, I was struck by his courage to do so as well as his support of others seeking to overcome similar challenges. 

It made me think about how it is that some people can experience significant challenges, whether that is a sudden and isolated incident, or the drip-drip effect of micro-aggressions stacking up over many years and are able to not only survive but thrive as a direct result of their experience.

As I discussed in an earlier article What Leaders Can Learn From Hostages, the powerful words of Viktor Frankl, Holocaust survivor, neurologist, psychiatrist, and author of Man’s Search For Meaning are particularly relevant here.

‘Between stimulus and response there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and our freedom.’

Frankl is saying there is hope. No matter the ordeal or how insurmountable the odds are that you may be facing in your life or business, you are far more resilient than you think. Ultimately this about you developing an empowering meaning of the present challenge along with having an empowering vision of the future if we want to succeed and be fulfilled in the process. 

Whilst you may think we have lots of influence on situations or other people, the ONLY thing you get to control is the meaning (‘story’) you give something and therefore how you respond, rather than simply reacting. This in turn creates your identity and how you see yourself in the world. 

Even in times of crises, conflict, or significant change, you still get to control the meaning and your response. Therefore the language you use as a leader is key:

Is this a problem or an opportunity? 

Is this the end or the beginning? 

What’s the gift or learning from this?

What else could this mean?

What are we missing here?

From the many conversations and debriefs I’ve heard over the years with kidnap victims, what is striking is that the ones who not only survived but came out far more mentally and emotionally resilient, had adopted Frankl’s thinking, often without having heard of it before. 

Whilst held captive they firmly placed their focus and attention on what was happening in their mind. Rather than stepping into a spiral of despair and labelling themselves as a 'victim' in a pejorative sense, they took control of how they responded and ultimately reframed their experience into a positive one from which they could grow, share, develop and learn. 

My own journey is testament to this as I would not be a successful keynoter speaker, executive coach, and volunteer on a crisis helpline today if I hadn’t reframed the suicide of a close relative into an opportunity to help and serve as many other people as I could. 

That said, there is also no ‘hierarchy of trauma or challenge’ as each of us experience and interpret events uniquely. This is why two people can experience exactly the same circumstances and one can see it as positive and life-affirming, whereas the other as the worst thing ever happen to them.

POST TRAUMATIC GROWTH (PTG)

PTG is not necessarily a quick process though and it takes as long as is needed. In fact it’s crucial to not jump right into the possibility of growth immediately, which can often be construed as minimizing someone's pain and suffering or the impact of any loss."

According to Kanako Taku, associate professor of psychology at Oakland University, who has both researched PTG and experienced it as a survivor of the 1995 Kobe earthquake in Japan, explains how it can take a lot of time and energy and usually occurs when someone who has difficulty bouncing back experiences a traumatic event that challenges his or her core beliefs, endures psychological struggle (even a mental illness such as PTSD), and then ultimately finds a sense of personal growth. 

To get to the PTG zone requires a willingness to follow a process. One of the leading psychologists within this field, Richard G. Tedeschi, explains how it can be facilitated in five ways: 

1. Education (rethinking ourselves, our world, and our future)

2. Emotional regulation (managing our negative emotions and reflecting on successes and possibilities)

3. Disclosure (articulating what is happening and its effects)

4. Narrative development (shaping the story of a trauma and deriving hope from famous stories of crucible leadership)

5. Service (finding work that benefits others)

You can see this in people who have endured war, natural disasters, bereavement, job loss and economic stress, serious illnesses, and injuries. So despite any challenges or problems resulting from the coronavirus outbreak, you have the ability to develop in beneficial ways in its aftermath. And you, as a leader, can help others to do so.

5 KEY TAKEAWAYS

1. Leaders Go First - Self-regulate your emotions and develop a resilient and growth focussed mindset. Problems, issues, and challenges enable us to tap into individual and collective ability to succeed where previously thought impossible. 

2. It’s Not About You - Your job as a leader is to demonstrate empathy and make the daily activities of your team’s easier, more effective, and more enjoyable. It’s not their job to do the same for you. All of us at the end of day just want to feel safe, seen, heard, and understood with a compelling and empowering future, and that we matter to ourselves and to others.

3. Communicate More – Words matter. It’s impossible to over-communicate both within your organisation as well as externally, particular during times of uncertainty, change or crises. Walk the talk and be authentic.

4. The Power Is In The Reframe – Focus more on a solution than the problem by asking better questions and you’ll get better answers (and thereby better results). Mistakes or setbacks are experiences to learn from, not be defeated by.

5. Be Courageous – Do the right thing particularly when it’s hard. Harness your emotional intelligence. Every corporate failure can be traced back to a lack of courage by its leaders.

Further Reference: American Psychological Association