What type of leader are you in a crisis? Most people don’t know how they’ll respond until the crisis happens. The Coronavirus (COVID-19) has shown us for sure.

What fear based leadership looks like

When the virus first made the news, I was in Denial. After Denial waned off, unfortunately I moved into Fear. I started to hoard toilet paper. And I felt the need to get my hands on medical-grade masks and Lysol. But I couldn’t find them anywhere. I started stress-eating and drinking wine a little too often, which became a habit. I was starting to get cranky at work and so were others around me which could trigger more unhealthy behaviors.

The COVID-19 / crisis leadership model

A friend shared this COVID-19 Leadership model with me. It helped me move to a healthy state quickly. I’d like to gift that knowledge to you. Below are three zones (FEAR, LEARNING and GROWTH) and actions associated with the zones.

First, I self-identified my state. Thankfully, my “high standards” gene kicked in for good use. I knew too that my little ones were watching me. Was this how I wanted to role model how I dealt with this crisis? Or any crisis? How was I showing up to my team?

So, this is what I did. I identified one statement I was weak in. I started with the LEARNING zone.

“I recognize that we are all trying to do our best.”

Instead of being judgmental of someone else’s behavior, I changed my belief that they were doing the best they could in this situation as well.

Then for a ~week, I scored myself on a scale of 1-10 on how well I accomplished that. 7, 6, 8, 4 (fell off the wagon), 8, 6, 9, 8, 10, 8.

After I noticed the pattern of positive numbers 8+, I took a break for a week. I noticed that by being intentionally conscious, I shifted my mindset.

Eventually, I chose statements from the GROWTH zone. It wasn’t hard to next learn how to believe

“I am empathetic with myself and others.“

The benefits of positive crisis leadership

Being in the GROWTH zone now for awhile, I feel a sense of power, freedom and happiness. This has been tested even recently with two major changes at the office. I didn’t respond with FEAR. I had shifted my mindset enough that I believed and thus acted in a Growth mindset naturally.

If I wasn’t introduced to this and shown a way to shift, I can’t imagine where I’d be now. Or how I’d be “showing up” to myself and others – besides being surrounded in comfort foods, rose wine and toilet paper. 😉

Sources: Vance Caesar, Matt O’Connell

Question: What kind of leader do you choose to be during COVID-19? Which statement do you want to work on? You can leave a comment below.