Providing leadership during a time of crisis is of critical importance. I thought it would be appropriate to share a presentation that provides insight into how leaders can develop and display resiliency. The materials and learning outcomes are addressed during leadership coaching and training sessions.

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Providing Leadership During a Time of Crisis
Client Distribution
April 2021
Facilitated by:
Anthony Folan
Integral HR Solutions Inc.
www.integralhrsolutions.ca
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Resiliency
Resilience
The capacity to recover quickly from difficulties; toughness.
An ability to recover from or adjust easily to misfortune or
change.
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Resiliency
An emotionally resilient person:
Is aware of his/her thoughts, emotions, and inner potentials
Thinks before reacting
Is patient, understanding, and willing to adapt
Is high on acceptance and forgiveness
Focuses on finding solutions
Expresses emotions in a socially acceptable way
Does not bottle up negative emotions
Is not ashamed to ask for help when they need it the most
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Resiliency
Building emotional resilience includes:
Building self-esteem
Improving stress management & coping strategies
Being mindful and focused on the present
Expressing emotions wisely
Choosing to react to stress in a productive fashion
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Resiliency
Building emotional resilience includes:
Building self-esteem
Improving stress management & coping strategies
Being mindful and focused on the present
Expressing emotions wisely
Choosing to react to stress in a productive fashion
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Resiliency
Become Resilient!
Some people are born with better resilience and emotional balance than others, with
the right guidance, we are capable of building ourselves as emotionally resilient and
psychologically mature human beings.
The book Emotional Resilience (Dr. Harry Barry) serves as a training manual for those who
want to build their resilience power.
The foundation of the intervention strategies mentioned in the book circles around three
concepts:
Cognition – the way we think
Perception – the way we analyze and evaluate things
Action – the way we react to it
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Resiliency
The principles mentioned in the book attempt to improve the way one thinks, feels,
and behaves, and ultimately aims at helping the reader evolve as an emotionally
resilient human being.
Emotional resilience, can be developed by:
Recognizing the fact that our thoughts influence our actions
Acknowledging stress and be willing to effectively cope with it
Being open to change and flexible while adapting to new situations
Accepting the truth that by acknowledging that our reaction to stress makes a
difference
Embracing compassion and empathy
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Effective Leadership
Crisis Creates an Opportunity for Change
In time of crisis there is a desire for more command-and-control leadership.
However, a rapidly changing environment also means that the leaders will not
have all the information to consistently make effective decisions.
By opening channels and promoting two-way communication, leaders can
ensure they are getting real time information from as many people as possible
and are providing clear direction based on this information.
A leadership team may believe they are communicating consistently and
adequately about an emerging situation and may not be aware that frontline
employees are experiencing that such communication is infrequent and
inadequate.
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Effective Leadership
Crisis Creates an Opportunity for Change
Please take a moment to reflect in relation to how you have provided effective
leadership during the pandemic.
What have you done differently?
Provide an example of providing leadership to your direct reports
Provide an example of providing leadership to your peers
Provide an example of providing leadership to frontline employees
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Effective Leadership
Recognize and reduce ambiguity where possible
Ambiguity is one of the greatest sources of anxiety.
Leaders can reduce uncertainty by, for example, clarifying what changes are
in scope, what process will be used to make decisions, what expectations will
be revised, etc.
Even where answers are unknown, simply recognizing them as unknowns can
reduce the level of anxiety tremendously.
Promote EAP and Wellness programs
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Effective Leadership
Reprioritize and Focus on Important, but not Urgent Matters.
With the pace at which most businesses operate today, there are always
important but not urgent needs that get constantly displaced. Refocusing
some energy and resources to these initiatives could be one way to not only
deploy underutilized resources, but also set up your business for success going
forward.
The financial crisis forced many businesses to rethink their priorities and those
that did so proactively with an eye on the future were able to recover and
pivot to growth much more quickly and successfully.
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6 – C’s of Crisis Management
Clarity
Develop a clear purpose and a vivid vision of what you want. You can’t
achieve a goal if you don’t define the goal. We need clarity so we know what
we’re going after. The clearer the picture, the more motivated we will be.
Courage
Often, actions that are the hardest to take are the ones that we really need to
take. You need to be able to do what is necessary, even when it is difficult or
unpopular. It takes courage to take the the right course of action. The
willingness to fight and the perseverance to keep fighting is prudent during
crisis.
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6 – C’s of Crisis Management
Character
Acting with humility and compassion is prudent, most certainly during a crisis.
Displaying integrity, humility, and compassion is of critical importance.
Confidence
Confidence is more than a sense of security. Confidence can completely change
the way you approach a goal or address an issue. When you walk into a situation
with confidence, you are in control. When you walk in without confidence, the
situation is in control of you. Reinforce that you have what it takes to achieve your
goals.
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6 – C’s of Crisis Management
Commitment
Ability to start and persist with specific courses of action while exhibiting motivation
and a sense of urgency.
Communication
Communication involves effective listening. Actively listen to the person who you are
engaging.
Listening gives you what you need to understand the other person’s needs; emotional
intelligence is knowing how to take what you learned and give the other person what
they need.
The most effective communicators are effective story tellers and know how to simplify
a complex subject.
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Thank You!
Questions…
Comments…
Feedback…
Anthony Folan
Integral HR Solutions Inc.
anthonyfolan@integralhrsolutions.ca
1(888) 908-1066
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