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Most of my articles tell stories about how our company overcame a problem and everything turned out fine. As I write this, we are in the middle of it – an external fraud crisis that will require months of brainstorming and gathering massive amounts of product development data to contain. It's getting better. We have a clear plan to develop and implement the necessary tools that are almost ready, and the brunt of it is behind us, but we are still in the middle of the storm.
Last week, I hosted a lunch with many employees in the Seattle area in small groups to ensure I heard and answered everyone's questions and to get to know people in a more intimate setting. Many people participated in the hard work to find a solution, so I also expressed my appreciation and tried to address any concerns. During one such lunch, a team member asked me how I was able to maintain my well-being under such circumstances. I replied, “Because of the people on our team.”
Our company is a living case study of how resilience and unity get a team through crises. Unity is a shared goal and a support network that makes it easier to navigate adversity. Resilience is more than just surviving challenges, it's thriving despite them. We've faced bigger threats before, but as we've grown from seven employees to over 70, I've refined my approach to ensure we have the resilience and unity to get through them. Here's how.
Related: How to build and sustain a truly resilient company culture
Be proactive
Instead of waiting until a crisis strikes, leaders should work proactively to build a unified team that can bounce back from any challenge. It takes daily effort to build the foundation of trust and respect that fosters unity, so establish regular communication and relationship building as a practice long before problems arise. Otherwise, communicating, connecting, and sticking together will require a lot more legwork at a time when we would do better conserving resources.
When our team was smaller, I could look everyone in the eye and trust that they felt connected, informed, and motivated. On a larger, decentralized team, I rely more on managers for insight into everyone's concerns. When my direct reports told me team members had questions, I created short videos to answer them, and the positive feedback was overwhelming. Many team members said the format was reassuring, like meeting in person, and I plan to continue video updates as a regular practice. By building better communication and stronger relationships instead of panicking when a crisis hits, we move through it with purpose and unity.
Make it easy for people to get used to it
Today's crisis is unlikely to be the last, and it can be scary to throw people into trouble once it hits. Without resilience and unity, that fear can be a company's greatest enemy, turning even the smallest speed bump into a car crash. When negative perceptions take hold, people stop talking about unity and get caught up in their own thoughts. Instead of thinking about resilience or unity, the crisis strikes and they lose hope.
Give everyone the opportunity to take small steps toward managing a crisis by providing safe opportunities to practice. The first time we face a challenge is the scariest, simply because we are least prepared for it. Enough low-risk challenges arise naturally to give individuals a chance to fight through and overcome them, making future, larger events easier to manage. Resolving that first encounter with a problem can feel like a race without practice—the finish line seems so far away and impossible to cross. The more we do it, the less scary this process becomes.
Transparency is key
During times of crisis, communication should be clear, honest, and frequent. Respond when people have questions. Stay calm and talk seriously about the reality of the problem, the urgency, and the resources being provided to get it under control and rebuild. Transparency can help calm people's fears during an otherwise uncomfortable process. It also invites others to participate in the solution. By being open with my team about the fraud, they came together to find a solution faster than expected. People are more likely to respond to transparency with patience or offers of help.
Communicating in person can be easier than communicating through remote tools to read body language and signals during interpersonal conversations that might indicate discomfort. One-on-one meals with my team members allowed me to hear their concerns and get a sense of how comfortable they were with the topic, and they could more easily trust my reassurances. They may still have questions I can't answer, but I can explain the steps we have, how long they should take, and when to expect a reassessment. Showing people where we're going makes it easier for them to join in.
Related: Resilience is one of the most important entrepreneurial traits. Practicing it can help you build it.
Celebrate with balance
In difficult times, leaders need to listen to everyone's concerns, acknowledge that the storm is still ongoing, and celebrate successes within a reasonable timeframe – but that requires balance and sometimes trust. Although the solution to our fraud crisis was in place and we were ready to implement it, I had some reservations about giving everyone an extra day off as a thank you because we still had a lot of work to do. Celebrating successes when you're in the middle of solving a pressing problem can seem unreasonable or disjointed.
At the same time, people were getting tired. It would take us months to develop all the tools needed to solve our problem, and it would take several more months to implement and evaluate them. The right amount of appreciation during a storm can motivate people to keep working toward the calm that is soon to come.
As leaders, the steps we take before a crisis determine our team's future resilience. While many of these steps are experiments, they reflect the principles we practice throughout the year to build an indomitable team. We may encounter obstacles and need to change course, but with a plan to stay resilient and united, I'm confident we can get through anything.
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