12 Steps

to Lead
through times
of Crisis
JACQUELINE PUCCI
CONSULTANT
“Leadership is the art of motivating a group of
people to want to follow their direction toward
achieving a common goal.”
 HUMAN RESOURCES CONSULTANT
JACQUELINE PUCCI CHANGE ARCHITECT – AGILE & STRATEGIC PROBLEM SOLVER

• Vice President, Human Resources,

Rosewood Hotel Group

• Regional Director of Human Resources,

Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts
 1. Take Action …
Create a “Crisis Solutions Team”
▪ Members include deep matter & cross-functional expertise.

▪ People who know the firm, its customers, employees,

suppliers, its’ operations, whom understand and represent the
hotel’s key priorities, values and constituencies.

▪ Change the team as the event continues to unfold:

Core Working Group

Rosters:

#1 #2 #3
 2. Clear the Table…

Show care …
▪ Get things off the SOLUTION TEAM’S plates.
▪ Assign those tasks to other people to backfill.
3. Facts are Friends
Tell them….
▪ WHAT YOU KNOW| Have clarity.
Promise only when you have the facts and are
positive.
▪ WHAT YOU DON’T KNOW| A lot. Be upfront and
transparent in letting people know that “Processes
will be changing until further notice.”
▪ WHAT PROCESS DO YOU HAVE TO TAKE ACTION.
Your Crisis Solutions Team
4. Resolve ASAP
What do we do,
when no knows what to do?
WE HAVE TO FIGURE IT OUT,
IN REAL TIME, UNDER STRESS
That is what CRISIS LEADERSHIP is.
And, the way you have been feeling…is how it feels.

THIS IS THE “NEW NORMAL” for a

TEMPORARY, but INDEFINITE PERIOD.
from a Leadership
Perspective…
5. Be Poised & Positive

Leaders SET THE TONE in the hotel.

Employees want to feel that the Leadership is confident,
secure and optimistic during times of disruptive change.

By leading and communicating directly, showing

support and compassion, the stakeholders will feel
more trust because they see you’re taking the right
steps, communicating and walking the talk.

Your actions speak louder than words -

BE A FORERUNNER!
 6. Over Communicate!
Connect with Greater Intensity and
Regularity, while being Inclusive

70%
Employees in your hotel that are DISENGAGED.

2/3
Audience does not HEAR what is said.

REPEAT REPEAT REPEAT

7. Ownership
EMPLOWER YOUR PEOPLE
How many organizations claim to value the customer
as the top priority, and then drive them away by
keeping employees waiting for approvals from
management to make front line decisions?

MAKE MOVES BASED ON FACTS & DATA

Simply ask the people….

ALLOW FOR AGILITY IN SOLVING

And, allow your team to create unique, tentative and
experimental options referenced later in a case study
from Harvard Business School. Options based more
so on values and principles rather than a known
recipe.
 8. Be Present

FIXED ON THE TASK AT HAND

▪ One task at a time
▪ Avoid distractions
▪ Stay hopeful and in the moment
9. Staying FOCUSED
“Fix your eyes forward on what
you can do, not back on what you
cannot change.”
In routine emergencies, there are known
solutions. In an unprecedented situation like
Covid-19, VIRTUALLY NOTHING IS KNOWN,
but it needs to be viewed as a WHOLE EVENT,
including: Financial, Medical, Economic and
Psychological ramifications – So, you need an
integrated, comprehensive process.
Set your plan …
10. The Plan!
Engage in Iterative, Agile
Problem-Solving
1. Establish goals, priorities & values MORAL REASONING

2. Understand the situation DESCRIPTION

3. Develop options CREATIVE

4. Predict outcomes for each ANALYTICAL

5. Choose the best course of action EXECUTIVE

6. Execute your Opening ADMINISTRATIVE

First, understand the situation…
From where you stand...
By what percent do you expect your hotel’s
revenues to be down next month?

???
1) Expect an increase
2) Expect no change
3) Expect less than 10% reduction
4) Expect less than 25% reduction
5) Expect less than 50% reduction
6) Expect greater than 50% reduction

PLEASE CHOOSE ONE.

Can you predict the outcomes?
In an unprecedented crisis, there are no pre-cooked answers.
ALL WE CAN OFFER IS THE BEST PROCESS and DEVELOP OPTIONS:
1. Resist the pressure to provide quick answers
2. Remind yourself and others that:
- We don’t yet fully understand the situation
- The situation is continuing to change
- It will take time to learn/develop the best choices
3. Activate the BEST PROCESS you can with the best people you have.
The Answer to every Covid-19 question
is ... a PROCESS.
What are the key elements of the
approach we need?

-> Structure

-> People

-> Problem-solving
Create conditions for Successful
Agile Problem-Solving

1) Facilitated deliberation
2) Ensure Diversity of your
“Solutions Team”
3) Psychological safety
4) Joint INQUIRY, not ADVOCACY
11. Execute your Chosen actions …
…but treat them as
Tentative & Experimental
TREAT THEM AS…
In Routine situations…
Tentative & Reliable, correct, efficient, effective answers are a
Experimental reasonable expectation.
In Unprecedented situations…
▪ EVERYTHING we are doing is an experiment in
REAL TIME!!!
“Covid-19 is a terrible challenge, but there are
REASONS FOR OPTIMISM...

Business Leadership is intelligent, creative,

adaptive and decentralized.

RESILIENCE is adaptablity personified...

and we are just getting started!
Once you’ve made
it through….
12. Refresh your GOALS for 2020

This is

THE NEW NORMAL…

Reflect it in your
goals!
Going forward…
1. New issues will continue to arise
2. Important priorties will be in conflict
3. Place confidence in your PROCESS
4. Re-work the problem, continuously

We place our faith in YOUR Leadership

“ THE ONLY THING THAT IS CONSTANT IS CHANGE”

“Don’t Wait for the Storm to Pass,
Learn to Dance in the Rain! “

THE “NEW NORMAL”

Q&A
T H A N K YO U …

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