Leadership is being tested more than ever in today’s uncertain business environment. Crisis abounds in the form of economic downturns, global pandemics, shifting work culture, and internal organizational change, requiring leaders to have a unique blend of toughness, vision, and adaptability.

Stoyan Yankov, a renowned productivity and performance coach, shared his insights on how leaders can best handle uncertainty, foster team spirit amid adversity, and leverage crisis as a driver of innovation.

Stoyan Yankov is a productivity and performance coach, professional speaker, bestselling author, and podcaster. Author of PERFORM in Times of Crisis, he specializes in training and coaching programs for leaders and organizations. He has helped over 560 organizations in 35 countries create more mindful and productive team cultures. As a host of the Productivity Mastery Podcast, Stoyan interviews some of the most effective leaders on the planet, such as Guy Kawasaki, the founder of Reebok and the former president of Starbucks.

What advice do you have for leaders on balancing the need for data versus reacting swiftly during times of crisis? What is the line between analysis paralysis and reckless decision-making?

In a crisis, waiting for perfect data is a luxury you don’t have, but acting without any data is also not the optimal solution. Many crises can occur unpredictably. Think of crises like COVID-19, 9-11, or the 2008 financial crisis. It would have been tough to predict such a crisis or have a good process to respond to it. After all, similar events haven’t occurred in the past.

When a crisis hits, the first job of the leader is to “create breathing room”. Identify and extinguish the biggest fires first. This buys you time to assess the situation properly instead of reacting blindly. Speed is of essence, especially at the beginning of a crisis. As a former movie producer and an entrepreneur having to deal with many small and bigger crises, I like to use the 3S framework:

Situation – Assess the situation as fast as possible. What caused the crisis? How big is the damage? What reliable data do we have? What further consequences and developments can we expect?

Strategy – Based on the situation, what is our crisis response strategy? What are the top priorities and targets? What will ensure we minimize the damage and prevent further crises from developing?

Steps Ahead – What are the exact next steps? In what sequence and who will do exactly what?

Melissa Rosenthal, former CCO of ClickUp, shared with me that she would immediately set up a “war room” when a crisis hit, a dedicated space where leadership could meet frequently, process new information in real time, and make fast but informed decisions. The worst thing a leader can do is get lost in endless analysis while the situation deteriorates.

Sometimes, the best decision is to make a decision. Move. Take action. Set a direction. You can always adjust the course as new information emerges, but in a crisis, speed is crucial. Act with courage and focus on getting everyone to safety first.

How can leaders manage a cultural shift in a crisis without stifling creativity and innovation?

In the heat of a crisis, innovation isn’t the priority; survival is. If your house is on fire, you don’t brainstorm new interior designs; you put out the flames. Sometimes, you must accept that creativity will take a backseat, at least temporarily. And it can be very stressful.

There are four critical areas you want to ensure the safety of first, and over the course of the crisis: team, clients, cash, brand.

When I am going through a crisis, I constantly ask myself: “How could the crisis affect them? How could my actions and decisions affect them? How could I minimize the potential damage on them?”. Keeping them top of mind can save you many headaches.

Another important fact is that most people freeze or freak out in high-stakes situations. John Leach from the University of Portsmouth estimates that in a crisis, 80-90% of people respond inappropriately. What does that mean? Your role as a leader is to provide emotional stability and to be the pillar of strength. To show up with a cool head and as Rita McGrath, a bestselling author and professor at Columbia Business School, says: “to dampen your team’s emotional temperature”.

Once the temperature is cooler, it’s time to shift the focus from survival to opportunity and innovation. The Chinese symbol for crisis consists of two elements: danger and opportunity, and every crisis holds both. Instead of dwelling on what’s going wrong, ask: “What’s good about this situation? What new possibilities can we actualize? How can we be more creative and come up with new solutions and opportunities?”

A great example is how Grand Hotel Kempinski Vilnius responded to the COVID-19 crisis. With travel restrictions in place, they could have waited helplessly for things to return to normal. Instead, they reinvented their business. They transformed hotel rooms into intimate two-person dining spaces, creating a unique restaurant experience while complying with restrictions. The move not only generated vital cash flow but also attracted media attention and kept the hotel afloat during the first few tedious months.

Every crisis brings new opportunities, but you must be willing to look for them.

What framework do you use when communicating with your team during a crisis?

In a crisis, communication isn’t just important, it’s everything. People crave certainty and direction. As former Starbucks president Howard Behar put it, “Only the truth sounds like the truth.” If leaders aren’t upfront, rumors will spread, fear will take over, and you’ll lose control of the narrative. But it’s important to distinguish that honesty and transparency must come from a place of strength and not panic.

Mark Harisson (The T1 Agency), an executive from Canada, once shared his strategy for stressful times. Every time he gets under pressure, he takes out a piece of paper and writes down the letters: DFS. It stands for Deal From Strength. It’s a mental trigger for him. Ask yourself this question: “How will I act if I was dealing from strength, from the highest version of myself?”When a crisis hits, your team looks to you. If you’re frantic in your communication, they’ll be frantic, too. If you’re composed, they’ll find stability in you.

A crisis brings stress, and when people are under pressure, communication naturally suffers. Think about the last time your team was going through difficulty. Important details can be missed, misunderstandings can happen while emotions run high. So, communication needs to be simple and straight. Direct sentences. Repeating key messages if needed. Sending a written summary of the key points and a step-by-step plan of action. As hard as it can be, be empathetic, compassionate, and patient. Most importantly, increase the frequency of communication. Have more group meetings. Do more 1-1s and shorter but more frequent communications.

In summary, effective crisis communication comes down to three principles:

What’s the one piece of advice you find yourself repeating most often to tech leaders facing a crisis?

The best you can do is the best you can do. But it’s your responsibility to ensure that you do the best you can do. To be able to make effective decisions, you need to be in your best state – physically, mentally, and emotionally. Stressful times can affect your mental health, your sleep, and rest. Are you doing your best to stay strong? Exercising, going to bed on time, and surrounding yourself with a strong support network?

Preparation plays a key role. If you want to be resilient in a crisis, you need to build a resilient team. And that begins with hiring people who are “fighters” and who will not turn back in the face of a crisis. But resilience isn’t just about recruitment; it’s about letting your team navigate smaller challenges before the big ones hit. Many leaders are too quick to step in and take over when problems arise. But are we letting our people grow? Let them struggle through difficulties, then debrief and learn from the experience. Not every decision will be the right one, but that’s how they will start developing the skills to handle high-pressure situations. You need people you can rely on.

It’s also important to take the time to prepare proper crisis management and business continuity plans. No crisis unfolds exactly as expected, but having a framework in place provides stability and allows you to focus on what truly matters.

A premortem is a very useful tool. A premortem prepares you for the worst by assuming the company (or your department) has already failed at a certain point in the future. The thought experiment aims to identify the risks, threats, and potential failure points that would have the biggest impact on the company – and of course, to brainstorm solutions to prevent them. How does it work?

• Bring your team together and brainstorm up to 50 potential failure points
• Prioritize the Top 10 of them with highest score (impact x likelihood)
• Go through each one and determine what actions you can take today to prevent or minimize its damage.

Remember, a crisis is not the time to be perfect and flawless; you won’t be. You’ll probably make many mistakes. And that’s OK. It’s the time to be a leader, to act courageously and do your best.

And it will matter. As screenwriter Robert Mckee says: “True character is revealed in the choices a human being makes under pressure
the greater the pressure, the deeper the revelation, the truer the choice to the character’s essential nature.”

*The answers in this interview have been edited for clarity and length.