Blog Leading Through Crisis Part 1—Navigating the 4 Phases of a Crisis Share This post kicks off a three-part series on how leaders can effectively guide their teams through crisis, disruption, and uncertainty. In today’s business environment, volatility isn’t the exception—it’s the norm. From macroeconomic shifts to internal shakeups and sudden market curveballs, change is coming fast and often without warning. No matter the cause, the pressure on leaders remains the same: keep your team aligned, focused, and moving forward. How a leader shows up in critical moments doesn’t just influence team morale; it often determines how quickly the group recovers or if it recovers at all. Crises tend to unfold in phases, each demanding something different from the team, and from leaders. The leader’s role is to create shared context, maintain clarity, and make sure no one gets left behind or left guessing. Phase 1: Shock The moment things change. And the moment many teams freeze. Every crisis begins with a jolt—an event that upends expectations, breaks normal routines, and triggers a range of emotional reactions. Some people stick their heads in the sand. Others spiral into anxiety. Many will leap into action, but try to do too much without clear process. Your job as a leader in this phase is to diagnose what’s happening across your team. Some individuals will respond quickly and raise their hands to help, while others may be overwhelmed or checked out. It’s your responsibility to observe, ask, and act so that you can help your team navigate what comes next. What to do now: Prioritize clarity: Communicate clearly and precisely on what’s happening and any context you may have. It’s okay not to have all the answers. Get people unstuck: Create structure, define short-term goals, and start re-establishing momentum. Ask: “What’s the one thing we need to get right this week?” When people freeze, narrow the time horizon, simplify the scope, and give them a clear role to play. Designate a go-forward team: Identify a small group that can look ahead and anticipate what’s next rather than staying stuck in the moment. Look for people who stay calm under pressure, take a systems view, and offer clear, grounded input, even when there’s not much data. Phase 2: Survival Focus. Prioritize. Protect what matters most. In this phase, leaders begin grappling with the operational impact of the crisis. There’s no such thing as “business as usual.” The question becomes: what’s business critical? Where do we need to act now to ensure the team—and the business—can keep functioning? Here’s where clarity pays off. Team members are still adjusting. Emotions are probably still running high. And yet, decisions need to get made. The best leaders balance empathy with decisiveness, helping teams focus on what matters without getting swept up in panic or perfectionism. What to do now: Reprioritize ruthlessly: Strip away distractions and align your team around a few critical outcomes. Help the team understand why certain initiatives are being paused or delayed, and make sure everyone knows what the top priorities are right now and how they can contribute. Adjust expectations: Accept that productivity may dip. Focus on effectiveness. Be transparent about shifting timelines or evolving goals, and normalize the fact that success may look different for a while. Engage individually: Different people will need different things. Adjust to meet people where they are. Set up regular one-on-ones to check in, recalibrate, and ensure that each team member feels seen, supported, and aligned. Phase 3: Rebuilding in Uncertainty The landscape shifts again. Are you ready to adapt? At some point, the acute phase of the crisis fades, but that doesn’t mean you’re out of the woods yet. This transitional period can be deeply uncomfortable, and there’s usually no playbook. People are hesitant to act, but decisions need to be made, priorities have to evolve, and the business must continue to function. This is where scenario planning and strong communication come into play. You may not know exactly what’s next. But, you can start preparing for what’s likely, and help your team stay focused without overcommitting to a single vision of the future. What to do now: Plan for multiple outcomes: Don’t anchor too early. Stay open and adaptive. Encourage your team to explore multiple scenarios and identify trigger points that might push the organization in one direction or another. Keep communicating: Set context regularly, even if it’s just to explain what you don’t know yet. Regular updates build trust and provide much-needed stability in an uncertain environment. Rebuild trust: Transparency and consistency are critical during this ambiguous phase. Follow through on commitments, acknowledge what’s been hard, and reinforce your team’s value through both words and actions. Phase 4: Reset and Recommit Don’t waste the crisis. Decide what’s worth carrying forward. Eventually, the crisis will recede. But that doesn’t mean everything is back to normal. As a leader, you have a choice: go back to how things were, or take what you’ve learned and build something stronger. The best leaders treat this final phase as a chance to reset. They look back with clarity, forward with purpose, and realign the team around what matters most. What to do now: Catalog the lessons: What worked? What didn’t? What’s worth doing differently? Create space for reflection, bring the team into the conversation to crowdsource insights, and reinforce shared ownership. Rebuild with intention: Use this moment to redesign how your team operates. There are no time machines. Your post-crisis team will operate differently than the pre-crisis team. Identify processes or habits that no longer serve the team, and co-create new ways of working that reflect what you’ve learned. Re-engage the team: Bring people along with you. Help them see the path forward—and their place in it. Reconnect people to the mission, give them clarity on their role, and offer opportunities for renewed contribution and leadership. Crisis leadership isn’t about having all the answers. It’s about knowing which phase you’re in, what your team needs right now, and how to move things forward with clarity and confidence. The most effective leaders keep their teams aligned, engaged, and ready to adapt—no matter what comes next. In part two of this series, we’ll take a closer look at the people side of crisis leadership—how to reassess your team, identify who’s rising to the moment, and support those who may be stuck.