How to help lead your company through crisis

Leading in challenging circumstances is akin to riding with people you care about on a broken-down rollercoaster with everyone blindfolded and no safety harnesses.

The ups are slow to emerge, and you always know there’s a big drop coming soon—you just don’t know when, much less how steep it will be before you whip around the next turn.

You hope you can keep the cars on the tracks and that you don’t lose anyone along the way.

You wish you could ensure everyone’s safety, and it eats at you that you can’t. But you know you’ll do everything and then some to try.

Every crisis leader I’ve known is searching not so much for easy solutions but ideas that might lead to solutions.

While we naively believe our leaders have the answers, mostly, they don’t.

Many arrived at their present position because they were good at working with others to solve problems or at creating or casting a vision. Those skills are invaluable in a crisis.

They displayed great competence in a narrow discipline, and someone or some group tapped them on the shoulder and said, “We want you to lead and help us out of this mess.” Regardless of your title, you can help your company during tough times, too. Here are five ways to do so: