![]() It also provides leaders across the organization with the flexibility to craft tailored solutions. ![]() This requires trust in managers and supervisors to make leadership decisions that conform to core values. Core values, principles and policies developed by central administration are given to local leadership to adapt to their particular situations. While this approach may be suitable in some crisis, such as responding to an incident, the prolonged and uncertain nature of the pandemic requires a more decentralized approach.Ī distributed approach to leadership makes the organization nimbler. Conventional practice in crisis management is a top-down response from the CEO or the central office. A demonstrable act of practicing vulnerability is delegating authority and entrusting others with leadership.ĭistributed leadership. Though it may seem counterintuitive, confidence can be instilled through vulnerability, which makes the leader authentic and easy to relate to. In her influential book, "Who Can you Trust?," Rachel Botsman, defines trust as “a confident relationship with the unknown.” During times of great uncertainty, the leader’s task is to instill confidence by presenting choices and risks through clear communication and emotional connection. Who is trustworthy and what should one believe from the avalanche of information? Leaders and communicators would be wise to interpret the demand for transparency as a demand for trust. To cope with uncertainty, the instinctive human response is to seek information, which is often expressed as a demand for transparency. All risk is laced with uncertainty, and the novel coronavirus is no exception. Even when leaders are confident in their risk mitigation plans, communicating the risk-reward tradeoff to employees, parents and students is a difficult charge. On the other, they invite groups to gather in closed spaces, increasing the risk of the spread of the virus. On the one hand, leaders encourage safety and social distancing. To begin, leaders are faced with the task of communicating a mixed message. The changing dynamics of the virus, combined with evolving scientific understanding and a hyper-polarized social and political climate, require a response that is more nuanced than traditional approaches to crisis and risk communication. The current pandemic poses unique leadership and communication challenges. The following Faculty Voice is repurposed content from his Linkedin. Prabu David is the dean of the College of Communication Arts and Sciences.
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