Being visible is often encouraged during a crisis. When the software isn't working right, I try to next to my business users, take the heat, then figure out how to can make a quick improvement.
Similarly, when a company is doing badly, the leaders need to get in front of their groups. The leaders showing their faces can help rally the troops.
It's sad to report, then, that the opposite seems to be happening in my group. While the CEO has done a good job with his emails, our group leaders have really botched it.
The head of the business unit has scheduled, canceled, and rescheduled his meeting with the IT staff four times. The CIO has scheduled, canceled, and rescheduled his meeting with our IT staff three times. Both of these meetings are now scheduled for late this month. We'll see what happens.
Meeting the "people", spreading optimism, sharing a vision -- this is one of the completely free things that a leader can do that can make a big difference. It assures people that their work is important and valued. Canceling, on the other hand, demonstrates that many other things have priority.
Yes, I'm sure both of these men are busy. But they also surely know the importance of keeping commitments. If their schedules prevent them from making a one hour commitment, they shouldn't do it. At this point, we'd be far better off if they'd simply never bothered.
If being visible helps with crisis management, what does being noticeably invisible do?
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