Tuesday, January 17, 2012

The Italian cruise tragedy raises several concerns starting from "who was in charge," to "what was the contingency plan," to "what was the multi-layered plan in case of an emergency."

This is a terrible and shocking situation of great magnitude that forces all of us to take a serious look into our organization's leadership structure, systems, and contingency plans.

There are captains and then there are leaders.

Captain Sullenberger's heroic landing of US Airways flight 1549 in the Hudson river just three years ago plus two days is the exemplary example of critical thinking, solid experience, and outstanding leadership. In contrast, Costa Concordia Schettino's cowering during the crisis leaves you scratching your head: even if he had the technical ability to steer a ship, how was he left in charge of such an enterprise?

What about you?

I usually get these questions during leadership consulting engagements and presentations on crisis management: what psychometrics can you use to predict who's going to react positively during an emergency and who's going to freeze? The simple answer is: there are no psychometrics you can use. However, you can use skilled common sense in your assessments:

1. What's your leader's personality?

Don't assume that someone who is high energy and type A personality will take over in a tough situation. If they've done that in the past, then you can predict they may do so again in the future. If they have never done it before, you can't know if they will be able to take over in case of an emergency. On the other hand, don't assume that if someone is calm and controlled, they won't have the leadership skills necessary to face a tough situation. They may have the right template to do this.

2. Past experience:

Have your leaders shown their leadership skills at work in past tough situations or have they stayed on the side? Have they worked effortlessly to resolve the problem or have they lost precious time in self-serving activities?

3. How do other members of your leadership perceive them?

People intuitively want to revolve around someone they know will stay cool, remain focused, and resolve the problem if crisis arises. Observe this.

4. Discuss possible scenarios

Role-play and create special scenarios where you can openly discuss what you would do in different situations. Although this discussion will not be identical to what people may do in "real life," this will give you a clear idea.

5. Plan:

Nothing beats planning ahead.

Schettino probably never thought his ship would ever tilt. Sullenberger probably never thought he'd need to land his plane on water. The difference was Sully was ready.