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I want to share with us on something that I believe you and I require as leaders anytime we are going through a difficult or challenging time in our leadership. We want to look at: The Response of Leadership in Difficult and Challenging Times. And one of the things I’ve discovered is that at some point or the other in your leadership, there will be that occasion, there will be that time in which a challenging moment or a difficult moment might show up or my ensued as a result of the leadership. So, in that situation or circumstance, when there is a difficult time that you are going through in your leadership, what exactly are you supposed to do as a leader? What exactly should be your response as a leader anytime you are experiencing a difficult or a challenging time. This is exactly what we want to look at in today’s Leaderview.
Listen to Podcast: The Response of Leadership in Difficult and Challenging Times
Now, one of the inherent trainings that every leader ought to have, is the ability to respond in difficult or challenging times. I’ve come to realize that the true capacity of a leader is not tested when things are going well with the organization or the people that you are leading. You see, the true capacity of your leadership as a leader is actually tested during difficult times and what you do in these times would prove whether you are fully prepared for leadership or not, or whether your leadership training is adequate enough or not. So as a leader, your capacity, so to say; is not tested when things are going fine. Although your leadership must have been, you know, the reason why the organization is going fine and the people that you are leading, they are doing well.
But the true test of your leadership, I have come to realize, is tested when your organization that you are leading is going through a challenging time or when the people that you are leading are going through a difficult time. What are you supposed to do as a leader? How are you supposed to respond in such, you know, situation and circumstances that you find yourself? And I’ve also realized that challenging times can either make or break a leader. Challenging times or difficult times in leadership can either break a leader or make a leader depending on how you respond to such challenges. And in this article, I want to show us four ways that I believe that you can respond to difficult or challenging times anytime they arise in your leadership. Four ways through which you can respond as a leader when you are going through a difficult situation in your leadership or in your organization.
Now, the very first thing I want to show us which I believe is very germane and is very important in the course of our leadership is what I call Effective Communication. Anytime you are going through a difficult time in your leadership, anytime your organization is experiencing a difficult time, every leader must be able to communicate, everyone under your leadership should be able to know the truth about what is going on in that leadership. This is the very first response to difficult or challenging times in leadership, your ability to communicate effectively so that everyone that you are leading, the organization that you are leading can know the truth about what actually is going on. Now, let me give us a practical example.
If you are leading an organization for example, you see the Board of Trustees and the Shareholders of that organization deserves to know the truth about the difficult times or challenges that you are going through or the organization is going through. Also, if you are leading a country, let’s say for example, you are a political leader, and there are difficult times and challenges in the nation, the people of that nation, the people of that country, also deserves to know the truth. So, effective leaders don’t just keep quiet during a difficult time. They simply communicate, they simply let everyone understands the situation of things, why the organization is going through what it is going through, or why the nation is going through what it is going through. So, in responding to difficult times, as a leader, one of the things you must do is to be able to communicate effectively. Let everyone know the times and the seasons that the organization is currently going through, or that the nation is currently going through.
Now, as a leader, one of the things I’ve also realized is that you don’t just communicate anything, you don’t just open your mouth to say anything simply because you want people to know what’s going on. You see, your communication in difficult and in challenging times as a leader must be able to be transparent, must be able to be honest, and it must also be full of empathy. Now, you may be wondering, why is it that your communication should be transparent? The reason is because the people you are leading, the entity that you are leading deserves to know the truth. This is not the time you hide the truth from the people, this is not the time to hide the truth from every stakeholder that is involved in the organization. So, you must be transparent enough in your communication.
A leader must be able to communicate transparently without having to hide anything, everyone should be at a state where they know exactly what the problem is, and where the problem is. And the next one is honesty, there is no point that a leader should lie when there is a difficult situation. There is no point lying to the people, lying about the organization, telling the people that the nation is doing well or the organization is doing well. Also, you must be honest. And also, you must be full of empathy, in your style of communication. So, this is what I’m trying to say in essence, that when you are going through a difficult or challenging time in your organization, as a leader, the first thing you do is that you communicate, you let the people know, you let the people understand the reason why the organization is experiencing what it is experiencing or the nation is experiencing what it is experiencing. This is very important.
Now, apart from communication, another response of leadership should be Confidence. You see, a leader should not show timidity during a difficult time, because when you begin to show timidity as a leader, it is going to undermine your leadership ability, it is going to undermine your authority as the leader, and your ability to be able to bring out the organization from the difficult time. So, when you are experiencing a difficult time, this is the time for you as the leader to exude confidence, this is the time to be at the forefront of the crisis and let your confidence be top-notch because the moment your confidence begins to wane, it is going to simply affect your ability to be able to bring out your organization or the entity that you are leading from that difficult time.
So, this is very important. Your confidence in the time of trouble as a leader is very germane and important in bringing out your organization, the people you are leading from that difficult situation or difficult times that they are experiencing. Now let me show us an example from the leadership of Jesus Christ. If you read the book of Matthew chapter 16 from verse 21 to 23, Jesus actually showed us an example of what it means to exude confidence, even in the face of difficulties and challenges. The Bible says:
“From that time Jesus began to show to His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem, and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised the third day. 22 Then Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him, saying, “Far be it from You, Lord; this shall not happen to You!” 23 But He turned and said to Peter, “Get behind Me, Satan! You are an offense to Me, for you are not mindful of the things of God, but the things of men.”
Now, what can we infer from these verses as leaders? Even though Jesus knew He was going to die, his confidence never wanes for a bit. He knew it was a difficult time that He had to go through and He didn’t allow the enormous assignments ahead of Him to diminish His confidence. Every leader must learn to respond with confidence during a challenging time because it is this confidence that is going to birth hope in the organization and in the people that you are leading, that actually they can come out of this difficult and challenging time. So, how do you respond in difficult and challenging times as a leader? You must be able to respond with confidence, your leadership must be able to exude confidence.
Now another one I want to show us is Motivation. You see, there are many occasions that will demand that a leader motivates. Difficult times happens to be one of those occasions. When discouragement is telling in the faces of everyone, this is not the time when the leader should return to his cocoon or to return to his corner. This is actually the time for the leader to respond with motivation. Everyone needs one kind of motivation or the other. And if you look at also, the leadership of David, you know, there was a time the Bible recorded in 1St Samuel chapter 22, just from verse 1-2, talking about this motivation thing, the Bible says:
“David therefore departed from there and escaped to the cave of Adullam. So, when his brothers and all his father’s house heard it, they went down there to him. 2 And everyone who was in distress, everyone who was in debt, and everyone who was discontented gathered to him. So, he became captain over them. And there were about four hundred men with him.”
Now the question we want to ask ourselves as leaders is that: what did those men actually see in David that made them to come to Him? David himself was actually running for his life. But the Bible showed us that certain men, despite that David was running, still gathered to him. The Bible called them discouraged men, men in debt. Now, what did they see in David? I concluded that they saw something in David that was uncommon, and it was motivation. David was able to motivate them and discouraged men, men were in debt, you know, resorted into valiancy. Their strength came back to them, and they could do valiantly for God.
So, the least you want to do or the least you want to exhibit in challenging times as a leader is discouragement and not being motivated. When you are going through those difficult moments in your leadership, in your organization, you must show some motivation. This is the time you must bring on board your motivation game as the leader, people should be able to look at you and gain some strength. Even though they are weak and tired, even though they are hungry, they should be able to look at you, their leader and be able to gather some strength once again. This is how to respond in leadership when you are going through a difficult time or a challenging time as a leader. Motivation should be one of those things that must never depart from your leadership.
The last one I want to show us is Optimism. I have discovered that in difficult times as leaders, our response should be that of optimism, not discouragement. We must be optimistic as leaders. Don’t be the source of the discouragement to your people, to your organization. Don’t be the reason why everyone will give up on the vision and on the goals of the organization. Be the reason why everyone we’ll keep on going, even when the indices are not showing that they should go forward. Be the one that everyone is energized, everyone is strengthened to be able to do the things that they are meant to do.
As a leader, be like prophet Habakkuk. The Bible says Habakkuk said:
Though the fig tree may not blossom,
Nor fruit be on the vines;
Though the labor of the olive may fail,
And the fields yield no food;
Though the flock may be cut off from the fold,
And there be no herd in the stalls—
18 Yet I will rejoice in the Lord,
I will joy in the God of my salvation.
19 The Lord God is my strength;
He will make my feet like deer’s feet,
And He will make me walk on my high hills.
This is Habakkuk Chapter 3:17-19. This is how a leader ought to carry himself, ought to be optimistic, even in the face of challenges and difficulties. Be optimistic always as the leader and you will see yourself and your organization coming out of whatever difficulty or challenges that may be facing it at such a time as this.
This is where we are going to draw the curtains on this episode of Leaderview and I believe that you have learned something that you are going to apply already in your leadership as a result of these words. Please don’t forget to share this article, like it, drop your comment as well so that we can get to interact with ourselves as leaders. Don’t forget, your response in difficult and challenging times as a leader is very key and germane towards you coming out of that difficult and challenging time. Be motivated, be optimistic, communicate effectively, and don’t give up even on your leadership.
God bless you.
