Common Errors Leaders Make during Crises

Common Errors Leaders Make during Crises

Hirsch (2014) did research on crisis management and examined the most common errors top managers make in times of crisis. He found an interesting pattern of problematic behaviors among senior leaders in crises:
1. Passivity: In the early stages of crises, leaders are very inactive. They hope and believe that the crisis will pass without serious consequences for their organization. Leaders should have a more open and objective view and be aware of the possible negative consequences of the crisis. Besides, they should actively respond to those consequences rather than just hoping that the crisis will fade away.
2. Narrow Vision: This refers to the inability of leaders to look beyond the existing dangers and risks to their organization. It results from omitting to put themselves in the role of the victims/outsiders that are involved in the crisis. A more open view is needed so as to understand and effectively react to their followers’ and other victims.
3. False Hope: Leaders often keep believing that the most positive outcomes will prevail, even if evidence shows the opposite. Rather than dealing with worst-case scenarios, these leaders keep changing the possible ramifications that will occur. Although it is understandable why leaders rather do not deal with worst-case scenarios, leaders need to plan for them.
4. Announcing the End of the Crisis: Leaders often have a strong desire to announce that the crisis has ended, so as to reassure their employees. This will only work out positively if the end of the crisis indeed occured. If not, the credibility of leaders is damaged. A more effective approach is to constantly announce and adapt to changing information so that credibility will be maintained.
5. Searching for a Scapegoat: A common reaction of leaders in crisis time is searching for a victim in order to protect themselves. However, blaming others only leads to a passive attitude towards the possible consequences of the crisis. Leaders should not focus on blaming others, but rather on searching for effective ways to master the crisis.
Source: Hirsch, P.B. (2014) “Taming the Amygdale: New Tools for Crisis Management” Journal of Business Strategy Vol.35 No. 1 pp. 52-55

		Comments Sort by date Sort by rating Rating
		6 Adrian Horodniceanu CEO, Israel
	Common Errors Leaders Make During Crises The above errors can have objective reasons (at least the first 3 or 4). 1. At the top there is a l... Sign up

		7 Miguel Sacramento Business Consultant, Brazil
	Another Common Error During Crises: Not Learning from it Another usual error besides the 5 already mentioned is: 6. Not capturing nor disseminating an... Sign up

		2 Raj Mohan Management Consultant, India
	On Crisis Management Error #1: Being Too Passive In many cases the CEO does not realize or gets the real picture of the problem. Sometimes they do no... Sign up

		2 Seelig, Netherlands
	Looks Like Standard Reactions on a Traumatic Experience The passivity, denial, false hope and anger seem like basic human emotions/reactions on a traumatic ... Sign up

		5 Niraj Kumbhat Manager, India
	Many in Senior Positions are not Capable to Handle a Crisis In addition to above mentioned problematic behaviours listed, there could be many more. A few are: ... Sign up

		-1 Stephen van der Merwe, South Africa
	Leadership EQ - Giving Emotional Stability in Times of Stress Point 4 is a typical reaction that exists because our human ego is our worst enemy. I agree here wit... Sign up

		1 Manager HR Consultant, United States
	Leadership Behavior to Avoid in the Event of a Crisis There are even more reasons why so many top people at any organisation fail in crisis and in my opin... Sign up

		1 JOSEPH SOLA ONIFADE Manager, Nigeria
	Common Leadership Errors during Crises Leaders always forget that they are chief servants of the people. This is why they never learn from ... Sign up

		0 Goodsir Professor, New Zealand
	Common Crisis Reactions by Leaders and Human Emotional Reactions @Seelig: Your comparison of crisis responses to basic human emotions provides an interesting insight... Sign up

		0 Sunday ELKANA (koachkonsult) Manager, Nigeria
	Common Errors Leaders Make During Crises Searching for a scapegoat seems to be the order of the day in crises management by leaders of organi... Sign up

		1 Tom Boren Business Consultant
	Crisis Management must Become Another Competency of Effective Change Agents An old adage tells us that whatever can be imagined can be planned for; is it hubris for leaders/man... Sign up

		1 kvssiyer Consultant, India
	A Crisis is Like a Tsunami: The Pressure for it Develops over the Years Many crises are the consequences of errors traceable to innocence or even intention or complacence. ... Sign up

		0 C.L. Kappagomtula Professor, Malaysia
	The Article is on a Hypothetical 'Myth' Rather than Reality Anneke Zwart's article on the common mistakes of leaders, though makes an interesting reading, is no... Sign up

		0 Paramathmuni srinivas Kumar India
	Crisis Management and Effectiveness of Surrendering In a crisis situation if a leader 'surrenders' to the existing situation and devotedly searches for ... Sign up

		0 Andrew Blaine Business Consultant, South Africa
	Leadership and Management The original study was of senior management, which does not necessarily imply leadership ability. Ma... Sign up

		0 Jaap de Jonge Editor, Netherlands
	Leaders or Top Managers or Top Excutives @Andrew Blaine: thanks for bringing this up. We are discussing the common errors made by those peopl... Sign up

		2 Borje Vickberg, Sweden
	Common Errors Leaders Make During Crisis Many wise comments on JP Hirsch´s research. I would like to add two aspects. The Nobel Prize winner... Sign up

		1 Augustine Ngmentomo Beakana Student (MBA), Ghana
	Attitudes of Leaders During Crisis Management: Impatience I agree with all the various views expressed expressed so far. A variant of #7 that I have also noti... Sign up

		0 Tran le Phuong Teacher, Mongolia
	On Common Errors of Leader in Crises #5: Mistrust Thank you so much for bringing this up. Through my observation one more thing to be added is that le... Sign up

		2 Pros Yiga Uganda
	On #12. Common Error of Leaders in Crises: Not Opening up and Involving Others I agree to other views already aired. I also believe leaders should open up to the rest of the team... Sign up

		2 Alhaji Jabbi Student (MBA), Gambia
	Leader Errors before a Crisis Occurs: Not being Sensitive to Warning Signals All views mentioned can be useful. In addition to @kvssiyer, I suggest 14. Insensitivity for ... Sign up

		1 Seelig, Netherlands
	Culture Differences also Play a Role in How Crises should be Dealt with @Borje Vickberg: I agree Thinking Fast and Slow is an excellent book; it explains very well how huma... Sign up

		2 Friday O. Ngbodi Student (MBA), Nigeria
	Not all Kind of Leaders Make these Common Errors The points by other contributors are valid to the extent of the culture and communal settings preval... Sign up

		2 Fernando Ochoa Manager, Mexico
	Frequent Mistakes by Leaders during a Crisis A related factor to #12 is: 15. Rely on the people close to the leader only. (Ed: see Core Gr... Sign up

		0 Zahid asghar Consultant
	Another Common Error of Leaders During a Crisis 16. Not staying accessible, keeping communications open, staying involved with the team and su... Sign up

		1 Manager HR Consultant, United States
	Frequent Mistake by Leaders During Crisis: Not Involving Lower Echelons @Fernando Ochoa: indeed it's worth talking and listening to them, all people in any organization, n... Sign up

		2 ANUJ KUMAR SHRIVASTAVA Manager, India
	Leaders Need to Be Open and Clear I completely agree to all 16 points mentioned so far. Also many a times leaders 17. Fear of coming ... Sign up

		1 Ali Wagfi Professor
	More Common Errors Leaders Make During Crises I think following errors may happens during crises: 18. Centralization in passing orders and ... Sign up

		1 Ayele Abdata Manager, Ethiopia
	On #1: Indecision is Worse Than Bad Decision During Crises Most leaders and managers are indifferent and during a crisis in their organizations they simply loo... Sign up

		0 kvssiyer Consultant, India
	On Crisis Management Error #12 Potential crises are better diagnosed and prevented in group settings wherein participants bring out... Sign up

		2 Quentin HR Consultant, United Arab Emirates
	Crisis Management Error #20: Interfere At Operational Level One of my observations from own experience (Business Continuity Management training) within our comp... Sign up

		0 Andrew Blaine Business Consultant, South Africa
	Bad Decisions versus no Decision @Ayele Abdata: I agree with your commentary. See my view under "Bad Decision Versus No Decision.... Sign up

		3 Michael Norris Director, United States
	The Incident Commander May not Be the CEO @Niraj Kumbhat: I agree that senior executives are not necessarily the best people to see an organiz... Sign up