Leading in times of crisis: How healthy optimism works

Crises are as much a part of business as stormy weather at sea. But what if the storm lasts longer? 3 impulses for strong leadership in a crisis.

Crises are a balancing act for managers: they must respond to employees’ concerns, but they must not allow themselves to be infected by the negative sentiment.

Emotions are contagious – from the team to the leader and vice versa. How do leaders set themselves apart emotionally and give the team the support and confidence it urgently needs right now?

Here are three ways how leaders can maintain a healthy optimism and the necessary energy to stay on course in a crisis – even if the company has to navigate through rough seas for an extended period of time:

1. Take off your stress glasses – reframe your own role

Two managers, two different ways of dealing with a crisis:

Person A looks at the worried faces of the employees and feels a huge burden. They think: “Where is this going?” and “It’s so hard to be the boss now!”

Person B is different. They also recognize the seriousness of the situation. But they separate themselves from the mood of disaster by realizing: “I’ve been trained for moments like this” and “I’ve mastered other crises before.”

Person A will find it difficult to support their team. Person B, on the other hand, will arm themself by “reframing” their own leadership role. From a psychological point of view, it is not only external events that put us under stress, but also the way we subjectively evaluate these facts.

Manager A only perceives the fact “I am leading a team in a crisis” through stress glasses. Manager B could also put on these glasses, but she has chosen a different pair of glasses. She reframes the situation: from a burden to a privilege.

This is how you can reframe a crisis:

Think back to difficult times that you have overcome and what you have learned from them
Also focus on the team’s successes and its resources for surviving the crisis
Communicate thoughtfully but confidently: “Yes, the situation is not easy, but we have what it takes to get out of it well.”

2. Optimism without sugarcoating

Manager A thinks: “People need a ray of hope!” The new economic forecast comes just in time. “There’s a 65% chance that the bottom will be over in September,” she announces at the meeting.

For a short time, employees are more motivated again. But then fall comes – and the crisis continues. The mood in the team plummets.

Manager B also wants to inspire confidence. However, she practices “Bounded Optimism”: instead of raising vague expectations, she focuses on goals that the company or the team itself has in hand.

This is how you can implement “Bounded Optimism”:

Realize that no one has complete information, especially not in uncertain times. You just have to endure that inner tension.
Avoid optimism and slogans of perseverance. Consistently talk about goals that the team can achieve on their own.
Celebrate milestones and successes, even small ones.

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3. The power of imagination: “Intention Setting”

Top athletes use this technique to reach their full potential under pressure: “Intention Setting” means mentally rehearsing a situation to see how it should ideally unfold.

Manager A tends to play disaster movies in his head, for example before a difficult meeting. “The sponsor will be unhappy. We have to justify ourselves … Our project will probably be canceled.”

Manager B deliberately chooses a positive scenario: “I will speak calmly. The board is looking for the mistake, but we have a well-founded answer to everything. In the end, we will get the okay …”

This mental journey releases positive energy, which is transmitted to the team.

This is how you can implement “Intention Setting”:

Practice the (unfamiliar) mental journey: What outcome do I want in situation X? How do I act? How will others behave and feel?
Do negative images come to mind during the mental cinema exercise? Allow them, but consciously counter them with positive images.

Conclusion:

The way you think and act as a leader sets the standard for your team. If your employees sense that you are stressed, they will also be stressed more than necessary. If you radiate calmness, that calmness will trickle down to the people around you.

Reframing, Bounded Optimism and Intention Setting are three proven techniques that will give you more inner peace and release positive energy.

05-03-2025, grosse-hornke