By Dr. Lois Parkes, Leadership Development and Institutional Strengthening Specialist, CARICAD

First and foremost, CARICAD extends its support and prayers for our member states impacted by the eruption of the La Soufrière Volcano in St. Vincent, and we stand ready to support the relief and recovery efforts in whatever ways possible.

As we think about this current natural disaster, occurring in the midst of this COVID-19 pandemic, it is clear that the ability to lead in times of crises is an important competence to get through to the other side. However, leading in crises is by no means an easy task, especially considering the leaders are themselves personally impacted by the crises that they themselves are leading the relief effort for, or are trying to provide emotional and other support to their teams, who are also impacting personally by the crises, while delivering public services to address the crises. So how can one be a resilient leader, in such a context? There are no precise formulae to follow; neither can we propose that there are any easy answers to this question. However, here are some tips and suggestions that can hopefully provide the basis for resilience-building:

1. Allow yourself the space to express your own grief. Just because you are a leader does not mean that you cannot express your own grief, fears, emotions about how the crises is impacting you. Acknowledge your own grief can act as a necessary stress relief valve
2. Give your team space to express collectively their own grief, emotions, and the impact the crisis is having on them personally. In a crisis, it is very easy to become very task-oriented. This is not to say that becoming task-focused is wrong. In fact, it is very necessary in order to be responsive in a crisis. However, this is about taking a bit of time to acknowledge that you and teams are human, and are personally impacted. Seeing how you can support each other through the crisis will provide greater impetus and strength for the much-needed tasks of addressing the crisis.
3. Be prepared to adjust. Depending on the severity of the crisis, accept that normal operations and targets will, of necessity, have to be adjusted, perhaps even abandoned. Accept that everything cannot necessarily be done in the same way, or timeframe, or at all. Prepare to be flexible and to focus on the necessary activities.
4. Some to be grateful for – Something to laugh about – Even in the midst of the crisis, one can find something to be grateful for, and even something that is humourous. As the Jamaican proverb says, “Tek kin teet cover heart bun.” In other words, both laughter and gratitude are like good medicine. They both allow us to elevate our moods and outlook, and in so doing, gain strength for the task ahead.

We would love to hear from you. What other resilience-building exercises can you recommend for dealing with a crisis?