Posted on Tue, Jul 27, 2010 @ 06:51 AM
The less than elegant and yet predictable departure of
BP’s Chief Executive
Tony Hayward is a real-time reminder of how today’s leaders are in a fishbowl – and rightfully so. No recent problem has proven more complex and resistant to a swift effective solution, it seems, than the
Deepwater Horizon rig explosion and oil spill.
One thing this debacle has shown us is how thorny it can be to lead in the face of disaster. Neither BP nor the Federal Government has demonstrated particularly credible or trustworthy leadership that can respond aptly to the complex challenges of this devastating situation.
So how does a leader even begin to approach such complex crises? I believe it starts with responding rather than reacting – and there is a big difference between the two. For example, let’s say that an apartment building is on fire. The building residents react – by fleeing the building. While this action quite clearly saves lives, it does not extinguish the fire. Fire fighters, on the other hand, respond. They quickly assess the situation, get the right resources to the scene, and then take the necessary steps to put the fire out. Their response is based on priorities, skill and action. In other words, first things first.
Leaders and their teams need to respond rather than react. I believe Peggy Noonan touched upon this in her Declarations column when she wrote about the Obama Administration’s leadership, “When your most creative thoughts in the middle of a disaster revolve around protecting your position, you are summoning trouble. When you try to dodge ownership of a problem, when you try to hide from responsibility, life will give you ownership and responsibility the hard way.”
The Obama Administration reacted to the disaster by trying to protect its image, disengage and show blame. The response would be to go in and fix the leak – first things first. Now we know Mr. Obama’s expertise is not in petrochemical engineering or deep water drilling, so he wouldn’t be out on the Gulf fixing the leak personally. But when a leader focuses on the mission and its priorities – and not on placing blame – the right questions are asked and the right people take action.
How does a leader respond with the right questions? Who are the right people to ask? Who are those trusted resources that will give the straight answers that get closer to the essence of the problem? What are the priorities? This is where leadership moves from rhetoric to action.
In your leadership roles, how do you deal with complex problems? How do you prepare to respond? Do you find yourself reacting?