"It's not the strongest species that survive, nor the most intelligent, but the most responsive to change".
  - Charles Darwin

Could you lead in a crisis?

In Sydney recently, Thomas Locke described what it took to lead 7,000 FBI agents during the '9/11' tragedy and recovery period.

Within 24 hours of the planes flying into the twin towers, Tom was given the job of leading the FBI's investigations.

Here are his leadership principles:

1. Be confident in yourself and in your position.
2. Know what your mission is and how to accomplish it, i.e. have a plan
3. Hire the very best. You would have to in a relatively small agency like the FBI. It has only 11,000 agents in total. For comparison look at New York City which has 50,000 police for the City alone.
4. As the leader surround yourself with the very, very best.
5. Care for your people, rejoice with them, mourn with them but never let them see fear in you.
6. Listen to your people. Listen for their good ideas. Encourage upward communication so you know if you've got it wrong.
7. Live by the rules - moral and ethical. But don't get stifled by policies and procedures. Never accept: it's not my job" or 'we've always done it this way". But when you make changes, do it morally and ethically.
8. Embrace change. As the world changes, organisations and leaders have to change.
9. Be decisive and clear. Don't procrastinate.
10. Accept the fact that you might be wrong.
11. Accept responsibility. Don't whine and blame.
12. Reward your people but don't be afraid to discipline them if they get something badly wrong. They expect it. Other staff members expect it. But then get over it, let it go.
13. Empower your people - give them the tools they need to do their job.
14. Have fun!
15. Take care of yourself.

As I listened to Tom, what struck me was that here was a man talking about leading during a time of a world changing event yet the leadership principles he believes in, would hold true for any leader, in any organisation, at any level, at any time.

So review your own behaviours against Locke's list. Could we depend on you to lead in a crisis?

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