Spotlight on Terralever's Chris Johnson
Nov 01, 2005
bizAZ Magazine
Working in consulting over the years has brought me ample opportunity to experience and witness various approaches to crisis management. Some approaches I've seen have had less-than-ideal results. Other managers I've seen can navigate teams through the most chaotic of crises with amazing grace and ease. A great example I look to as a clear model of what not to do when faced with a difficult challenge is a particular manager for whom I worked who's immediate impulse in a crisis would regularly be to: assess the situation, assign blame and then ask the team how they were going to "fix" it. Being subjected to this approach, I can assure you that using intense crisis pressure as an opportunity for coaching has devastating effects on the team’s morale, unity and willingness to solve the issue. Moreover, the further this criticism cycle continued, the more dysfunctional the team's behavior became. Using this manager as their only example of management style, accusations and distrust became cultural norms. This ultimately resulted in an incredibly high turnover rate (including yours truly) and limited success for the company.
After living through this and its aftermath first-hand, I vowed to myself in my own business to save criticism and coaching for later and work with the team to address the problem. When we encounter a tough situation, we pause and put the issue in perspective: Is it as bad as it seems? What's the worst-case scenario? Usually, the answers to these questions are "no" and "not that bad", respectively. Looking back at our most trying crises, I can’t recall one that seems nearly as bad as we thought it was while we were in the thick of it. This outlook helps us keep a cool head under fire and effectively address any crises. Once the dust has settled, we make a point to regroup and collectively take an honest assessment of what happened and how we can learn from the incident.
Looking at our experiences at Terralever, I'd like to think that it's working. Since our inception three years ago, we've had our fair share of crises. Through it all, we've been blessed with tremendous growth, a great client retention rate and 0% employee turnover. It proves that management’s focus on perspective, mutual respect and continual personal growth in even the toughest of situations work.
Media Contacts
Celeste Johnson
Sacks Public Relations
direct: 602-619-4444
celeste@sackspr.com
Andrew Richter
Terralever, Managing Partner
direct: 480-839-1080
sales@terralever.com