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As the Crisis Drags On, Here’s How Leaders Can Maintain

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The adrenaline has faded. All-nighters are not sustainable.

A retired Navy admiral explains what needs to happen now.

JUN 16, 2020

"Once upon a time, back in early March, many of us expected that the coronavirus would place a temporary pause on normal life. We’d be out of the office for a few weeks, kids would switch to remote learning for a bit, but then everything would go back to how it was.

Now, three months later, it’s clear that we’re in this crisis—the public-health crisis and the ensuing economic one—for the long haul.

“We live in a world of increasing complexity and uncertainty,” says Mike Rogers, a retired four-star admiral in the U.S. Navy. “I don’t see that changing in the near term, which means we need to figure out how to operate in this.”

So how does one not just operate but lead through a long-term crisis?

Rogers, a senior fellow and adjunct professor at the Kellogg School of Management, offered advice for leaders during a recent webinar from Kellogg Executive Education. His suggestions related to both the COVID-19 crisis as well as the ongoing protests over racism and police brutality.

For starters, Rogers says you need to make sure that whatever you are doing, you are acting in line with your values and your organization’s values. This can be particularly hard in a crisis, when emotions run high, and stress takes a toll on people mentally and physically.

“Sometimes the pressure to just do something can drive you up to the edge and sometimes over the line,” he says. Which is why you need to “think about what are your red lines before you get into the middle of a crisis.” For Rogers, this meant committing to never engage in anything he thought was illegal, immoral, or unethical, even though saying no to a superior could mean a court marshal."