What Strong Crisis Leadership Looks Like during the Pandemic
Skip to content
Leadership Apr 2, 2020

What Strong Crisis Leadership Looks Like during the Pandemic

COVID-19 is providing a crash course in crisis management. Leaders who display empathy, transparency, and aspiration will stand out.

Based on insights from

Timothy Feddersen

Editor’s note: This is the first in a series of articles based on Kellogg Executive Education webinars focused on COVID-19.


Business leaders across every industry are getting a crash course in crisis management as they navigate through the coronavirus pandemic, working to keep employees and customers safe, and their organizations intact.

Learn more from Tim Feddersen in Kellogg Executive Education’s Enterprise Leadership program, Corporate Governance and The Leader Within programs.

For an example of a CEO showing strong leadership right now, look to Arne Sorenson of Marriott, says Timothy Feddersen, a professor of managerial economics and decision sciences at the Kellogg School. Feddersen, who teaches courses on crisis management, points to several key components of a video message Sorenson made for employees.

Sorenson starts by offering compassion for the employees who have COVID-19 or have family members who are sick and for those in quarantine. Then, Feddersen explains that Sorenson speaks “with an incredible level of transparency to explain to everybody in the Marriott Corporation that this is the worst disaster that’s ever happened to Marriott” and that it will inevitably lead to some very difficult business decisions. Next, Sorenson stresses that Marriott needs to take steps to remain a viable organization, that the crisis will end, that and Marriott needs to be prepared for when that time comes.

 

To Feddersen, this combination of empathy, transparency, and aspiration to recover are hallmarks of strong crisis leadership.

Feddersen offered these thoughts in a free 1-hour webinar offered by Kellogg Executive Education. In it, he covers both the fundamentals of crisis management and how they apply to the current moment.

For example, he offers advice on how to set up a crisis team.

To start, leaders must ensure they are aggregating and assimilating the best, most accurate information from across their organization. “This requires emergent leadership,” Feddersen explains, meaning that even those without formal authority must feel comfortable speaking up. And, because the risk of making mistakes is so high in a crisis, “this takes a tremendous amount of courage, so we need to train our teams to be emergent leaders.”

Crisis teams also need leaders who are willing to make decisive decisions and then coordinate appropriate actions. “The way to think about a crisis team is something like a musical ensemble that involves some people listening and some people soloing and going back and forth, and then you’ve got a conductor,” he says.

Additionally, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic, crisis teams need to have a clear chain of command in case any key decision makers become incapacitated.

Feddersen also offers some key questions that leaders need to answer for themselves and their organizations, including what values should be driving their decisions and what their key stakeholders value right now.

But Feddersen stressed one point above all else: empathy.

“You want to demonstrate to others that you understand the values that they care about. And demonstrate that understanding to them. … Demonstrate that you get where people are coming from.”

He continues: “If you have people on your team who are particularly good at empathy, they’re treasures right now. Listen to them.”

You can watch the full webinar here.

Featured Faculty

Wendell Hobbs Professor of Managerial Politics; Professor of Managerial Economics & Decision Sciences; Chair of Personnel Committee

About the Writer
Emily Stone is the senior editor at Kellogg Insight.
Most Popular This Week
  1. One Key to a Happy Marriage? A Joint Bank Account.
    Merging finances helps newlyweds align their financial goals and avoid scorekeeping.
    married couple standing at bank teller's window
  2. Take 5: Yikes! When Unintended Consequences Strike
    Good intentions don’t always mean good results. Here’s why humility, and a lot of monitoring, are so important when making big changes.
    People pass an e-cigarette billboard
  3. How Are Black–White Biracial People Perceived in Terms of Race?
    Understanding the answer—and why black and white Americans may percieve biracial people differently—is increasingly important in a multiracial society.
    How are biracial people perceived in terms of race
  4. Will AI Eventually Replace Doctors?
    Maybe not entirely. But the doctor–patient relationship is likely to change dramatically.
    doctors offices in small nodules
  5. Entrepreneurship Through Acquisition Is Still Entrepreneurship
    ETA is one of the fastest-growing paths to entrepreneurship. Here's how to think about it.
    An entrepreneur strides toward a business for sale.
  6. Take 5: Research-Backed Tips for Scheduling Your Day
    Kellogg faculty offer ideas for working smarter and not harder.
    A to-do list with easy and hard tasks
  7. How to Manage a Disengaged Employee—and Get Them Excited about Work Again
    Don’t give up on checked-out team members. Try these strategies instead.
    CEO cheering on team with pom-poms
  8. Which Form of Government Is Best?
    Democracies may not outlast dictatorships, but they adapt better.
    Is democracy the best form of government?
  9. What Went Wrong at AIG?
    Unpacking the insurance giant's collapse during the 2008 financial crisis.
    What went wrong during the AIG financial crisis?
  10. The Appeal of Handmade in an Era of Automation
    This excerpt from the book “The Power of Human" explains why we continue to equate human effort with value.
    person, robot, and elephant make still life drawing.
  11. 2 Factors Will Determine How Much AI Transforms Our Economy
    They’ll also dictate how workers stand to fare.
    robot waiter serves couple in restaurant
  12. When Do Open Borders Make Economic Sense?
    A new study provides a window into the logic behind various immigration policies.
    How immigration affects the economy depends on taxation and worker skills.
  13. Why Do Some People Succeed after Failing, While Others Continue to Flounder?
    A new study dispels some of the mystery behind success after failure.
    Scientists build a staircase from paper
  14. Sitting Near a High-Performer Can Make You Better at Your Job
    “Spillover” from certain coworkers can boost our productivity—or jeopardize our employment.
    The spillover effect in offices impacts workers in close physical proximity.
  15. How the Wormhole Decade (2000–2010) Changed the World
    Five implications no one can afford to ignore.
    The rise of the internet resulted in a global culture shift that changed the world.
  16. What’s at Stake in the Debt-Ceiling Standoff?
    Defaulting would be an unmitigated disaster, quickly felt by ordinary Americans.
    two groups of politicians negotiate while dangling upside down from the ceiling of a room
  17. What Happens to Worker Productivity after a Minimum Wage Increase?
    A pay raise boosts productivity for some—but the impact on the bottom line is more complicated.
    employees unload pallets from a truck using hand carts
  18. Immigrants to the U.S. Create More Jobs than They Take
    A new study finds that immigrants are far more likely to found companies—both large and small—than native-born Americans.
    Immigrant CEO welcomes new hires
  19. How Has Marketing Changed over the Past Half-Century?
    Phil Kotler’s groundbreaking textbook came out 55 years ago. Sixteen editions later, he and coauthor Alexander Chernev discuss how big data, social media, and purpose-driven branding are moving the field forward.
    people in 1967 and 2022 react to advertising
  20. 3 Traits of Successful Market-Creating Entrepreneurs
    Creating a market isn’t for the faint of heart. But a dose of humility can go a long way.
    man standing on hilltop overlooking city
Add Insight to your inbox.
More in Leadership