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“But if you didn’t have time, you didn’t do your job. “You’ll often hear leaders say they didn’t have time to respond effectively in an emergency,” he says. Though crises are almost by definition unexpected, effective leaders can and should still prepare for them, says Fischhoff. It can also include visual representations of numeric information and structured lists that outline what readers can expect in a longer piece of written communication “ Health Literacy and Numeracy: Workshop Summary,” (National Academies Press, 2014). That means providing only necessary information and doing calculations ahead of time to make data more relevant and digestible, says Peters. That said, leaders sharing numeric information should do what they can to reduce the cognitive effort required of their audiences. “People are far more likely to overestimate certain risks if you don’t give them numbers” ( Medical Decision Making, Vol. “Providing numbers corrects misperceptions,” she says. That doesn’t mean leaders should avoid sharing numeric information, says Ellen Peters, PhD, a psychologist and director of the Center for Science Communication Research in the University of Oregon’s School of Journalism and Communication. “What we can do is acknowledge that uncertainty is associated with anxiety-so the anxiety that many people are feeling right now is an appropriate reaction.įinally, in communicating data to their followers, leaders should keep in mind that some people have trouble understanding numbers or performing mental math. “Minimizing the uncertainty of what we’re going through is disingenuous,” Silver says.
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In this moment, that includes admitting that much about the coronavirus-and how it will impact our lives in the coming months-remains unknown. Research by Fischhoff and Roxane Cohen Silver, PhD, a professor in the department of psychological science at the University of California, Irvine, shows that the public prefers honest answers, even when the news is bad-and that it’s tough for leaders who lose trust to gain it back ( Risk Analysis, Vol. “Leaders who withhold information essentially shoot themselves in the foot because that breeds mistrust and uncertainty.” “Total transparency is essential,” says psychologist Jeremy Hunter, PhD, an associate professor of practice and founding director of the Executive Mind Leadership Institute at the Drucker School of Management at Claremont Graduate University in California. But leadership scholars agree that even in such dire circumstances, honesty is the best policy. Throughout the coronavirus crisis, leaders have had to relay a lot of bad news-extensions of stay-at-home orders, large-scale furloughs and layoffs, sickness and death.
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Gavin Newsom has relied heavily on the expertise of physicians and public health professionals in crafting his messages to constituents, including by featuring these experts during his press briefings. Leaders then need to develop and test messages to ensure they don’t confuse people, says psychologist Baruch Fischhoff, PhD, a professor in the department of engineering and public policy at Carnegie Mellon University.įor instance, California Gov. Best practices for crisis communication, established through years of psychological and organizational research, include transparency, honesty and empathy.Ĭommunicating well starts with understanding the questions your audience has, and then talking to experts and reviewing data to answer them accurately. Perhaps the most essential element of crisis leadership is clear and trustworthy communication. “You need to train, prepare and execute.” Clear communication “What leaders have to realize is that when a crisis hits, you can’t just rest on your laurels and think that everything will move along normally,” says Ronald Riggio, PhD, a professor of leadership and organizational psychology at Claremont McKenna College in California. Those who dissemble and vacillate can harm and alienate their constituencies.
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Overall, their work has shown that leaders who communicate effectively and learn from their mistakes are poised for success. Other leaders, meanwhile, are floundering-communicating poorly, not providing trustworthy information and failing to follow through on promises.Īlthough the pandemic differs from other crises in our lifetime, psychologists’ research and expertise, developed in past crises, can still inform our responses, say those who have studied crisis leadership. In the era of COVID-19, some leaders have risen to the challenge-keeping their communities, employees and students informed, pausing and restarting daily life, and managing the secondary effects of social and economic disruption.