The meta-leader

True crisis, those incidents that threaten the viability of an organisation or where lives are on the line, are among the most vexing challenges for executives.

- ERIC J MCNULTY AND LEONARD J MARCUS

Decisions must be made quickly amidst ambiguity. The consequences are high while the margin of error is small.

This stands in stark contrast to ‘routine’ settings where strategies are carefully crafted, and stability—or at least predictable variability—undergird plans and projections. Executives confidently predict the future, and in many cases, their performance is judged on how well they do so. Yet, it is increasingly clear that such certainty is an illusion. Even before the current pandemic rocked the world, record floods, droughts, fires, and other calamities were injecting uncertainty into the operating environment. Acts of terror and other unrest too regularly disrupted the ‘routine’.

We and our colleagues at the National Preparedness Leadership Initiative at Harvard have been studying leaders in crisis situations for almost two decades. Through our field research, we have stood alongside them during or soon after turbulent incidents ranging from extreme weather to industrial accidents, terror attacks and, yes, infectious disease outbreaks. Our work has continued through the current pandemic.