What is a leadership crisis? How to overcome it?

Leadership crisis occurs when people stop trusting their leaders. It happens frequently nowadays and is the basis of instability in many organizations and countries.

Leadership crisis occurs when individuals responsible for a group no longer have authority or when they are continuously doubted and questioned. In other words, the guidance provided by the leaders is not followed. This often happens because members either disregard them or because the instructions they provide are controversial.

Unfortunately, this is a very common situation in today’s world. Even the World Economic Forum has addressed this issue in recent years. In fact, leadership crises have been identified in various companies, not only because workers don’t trust their managers, but also because managers don’t trust their workers.

The impacts of leadership crisis are extremely negative. Firstly, and most obviously, it hinders the achievement of goals for a group or organization. Additionally, a conflict-prone atmosphere is created, and the likelihood of mistakes or oversights increases. Consequently, labor productivity decreases.

“If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more, and become more, you are a leader.” -John Quincy Adams-

What are the signs of a leadership crisis?

Sometimes, a leadership crisis is obvious. It occurs when a group openly ignores or refuses to follow the guidance of their leaders. However, in most cases, it’s an underlying situation detected by certain signs and signals that we must learn to recognize.

Some signs are as follows:

Criticism: Members of the group or organization frequently comment on or criticize their leader’s mistakes.

Gap: There’s no conversation without a gap between the leader and their group. Moreover, interactions are brief and strictly limited to specific aspects of the work or task.

– Conflicts:: Disagreements often arise, especially regarding the leader’s decisions Moreover, they are not resolved harmoniously but are often “resolved” through imposition.

– Authoritarianism: A leader who is authoritarian is a leader in crisis. When an individual has significantly greater power than the group they lead, they don’t need to assert their power to enforce their decisions.

What are the consequences of leadership crisis?

The common consequences of a leadership crisis are widespread stagnation. Workers’ interest in their performance begins to wane. In fact, they often only do what is absolutely necessary. They lack the desire to improve and exhibit a prevailing sense of apathy.

Furthermore, negative attitudes toward the group’s work begin to increase. Complaints become frequent, along with indifference and a desire to no longer be part of the group or organization. This doesn’t only occur in companies but also in countries.

Ultimately, all these factors contribute to instability. People leave or separate from the group. In companies, it leads to significant turnover, and in countries, it manifests as continuous migrations or protests. It’s no surprise that no one wins in these situations.

Instability is one of the main consequences of a leadership crisis.

How to overcome a leadership crisis?

When facing a leadership crisis, the most important thing is to recognize its existence. Even if leaders feel they’ve done their job well, they must pay attention to specific events and occurrences, not just their own perception. If they acknowledge that there’s a crisis, they can overcome it.

Some solutions to overcome a leadership crisis:

– Recognize the value and efforts of the group: Leaders should focus on the qualities and achievements of the members in the group and talk to them about it. This will help change their attitudes.

– Accept mistakes: They should carry out a self-criticism exercise and present the results to the group. This doesn’t tarnish their image but builds trust.

– Empower members in the group: Power must be shared. It not only makes work easier but also attracts people to positive changes.

– Resolve conflicts: They must promote sincere and democratic dialogues to identify existing conflicts and resolve them based on communication and agreement.

– Encourage and diversify dialogue forms: Diversity is becoming more abundant. In fact, encouraging diverse opinions, listening, and learning from others are some defining aspects of a true leader.

A leadership crisis begins to be overcome when leaders change their approach and attitude. After all, these crises occur because the connection between the group and their leaders is broken. Whatever action is taken must focus on repairing that break.

Collected & translated by Athena I&E