Crisis Management Lessons from Global Events

March 16, 2020 - I was the COO of Equinox, a global fitness company - in what we were quickly learning was a global pandemic. On this day 5 years ago we made the decision to shut all 106 locations - for the safety and well-being of our employees and members. In the blink of an eye, we went to zero revenue coming in the door. We thought we’d be closed for four weeks, in some cases we were mandated by local government to stay closed for 18 months. Here’s what I learned: * Agility is a leadership imperative. The pandemic reinforced that no playbook is permanent. Leading through crisis requires decisiveness, comfort with ambiguity, and the ability to pivot strategy quickly without losing focus. • Communication builds stability. In times of high uncertainty, frequent, transparent, and empathetic communication is one of the most powerful tools a leader has. People don’t need perfection—they need clarity and consistency. • Culture is the ultimate shock absorber. A strong organizational culture doesn’t just survive disruption—it carries people through it. Investing in trust, accountability, and purpose before a crisis is what sustains performance during one. • Innovation accelerates when urgency is real. Constraints sparked creativity. The pressure to adapt pushed us to experiment, launch, and iterate faster than ever—a reminder that innovation often comes when you let go of perfection. • Human leadership is the most powerful kind. In crisis, people don’t follow titles—they follow trust and a calm leader. Leading from the front with empathy, transparency, and humility proved more impactful than any operational directive.

Markets were in chaos. Jamie Dimon sent a memo that calmed everyone. Here’s why great leaders overcommunicate in uncertainty: 👇 September 15, 2008. Lehman Brothers collapsed. The Dow dropped 500 points. Clients pulled billions from JPMorgan in panic. Inside the bank, fear spread. That’s when Jamie Dimon did something rare. He admitted what he didn’t know. His memo listed 3 unknowns and 3 certainties - no corporate spin. “We don’t yet know the full extent of counterparty exposure. But we do know our capital ratios remain strong at 8.9%.” Most CEOs wait for perfect clarity. Dimon understood the truth: people fear silence more than bad news. So he built a rhythm. The 3-3-1 Model: Every 72 hours, staff received an update with: • 3 things leadership knew • 3 things they were investigating • 1 concrete action being taken This gave people anchors in the storm. When asked about layoffs, Dimon said: “I can’t guarantee no changes. But I guarantee you’ll hear it from me first - not the Wall Street Journal.” He held daily 7am calls with division heads - not to micromanage, but to gather ground truth. He added a section called “What’s Still Working” to each update. To remind teams: the core still holds. And it worked. While rivals vanished, JPMorgan acquired Bear Stearns and Washington Mutual. Their stock rebounded faster than any peer. A senior risk manager later said: “Jamie’s updates weren’t always good news. But knowing someone was actively steering made all the difference.” This is the paradox of crisis leadership: When uncertainty rises, most leaders go quiet. But silence creates a vacuum, and fear rushes in. The best leaders do the opposite: • Communicate at 2x the normal frequency • Label incomplete info clearly • Focus on what you’re doing, not just what’s happening Because in chaos, your team doesn’t need certainty. They need to know you’re present, thinking, and leading. Want more research-backed insights on leadership? Join 11,000+ leaders who get our weekly newsletter: 👉 https://lnkd.in/en9vxeNk

This weekend, a Polish CEO’s “apology” for snatching a child’s hat at the US Open went mega-viral. But... it wasn’t real. We saw the same thing a few weeks ago during the Astronomer scandal, when a fake statement spread before the truth caught up. CrowdStrike's outage had a similar pattern: fabricated quotes attributed to leadership while the company scrambled to correct them. Even the #SEC wasn’t immune when its X account was hacked and falsely announced Bitcoin ETF approval.... and markets literally moved before facts landed. What we're seeing now is that the first wave of a crisis isn’t the incident itself. It’s the fake statement that hits the feed before you do. And in that window, outrage outruns your corporate approval process. And leaders don’t get the benefit of the doubt. So how do you prepare for this? Here are five rules I’d put in any crisis playbook: 1. Assume you won’t be believed. Skepticism is the baseline now. Authority and titles don’t buy trust anymore. Credibility lives in patterns, receipts, repetition. Every leader should: ⚠️ Maintain a clear, consistent voice across platforms (so a fake sounds “off” to your audience). ⚠️ Keep a running trail of proof points (past statements, values-in-action, receipts) that can be pointed to quickly. ⚠️ Audit how LLMs are summarizing you. If ChatGPT or Perplexity can’t articulate who you are and what you stand for, you’ve already lost ground. 2. YOU HAVE TO MOVE FASTER. By the time your “perfect” statement clears internal approvals, the fake has already won the day. So build two tiers of response: 1️⃣ Tier 1 (Immediate, <30 mins): Short denial: “We’re aware of a fake statement. It’s not from us. Official updates live here [link].” 2️⃣ Tier 2 (Within hours): A fuller explanation once facts are confirmed. The first tier buys you credibility and time. Without it, you’re just chasing the narrative instead of framing it. 3. Neutral is deadly. “We take this seriously” can read as guilty. We are primed to assume the worst, so safe language sometimes looks evasive. Instead, show: ⚠️ Clarity: Say what happened in plain English. ⚠️ Accountability: Own what’s yours, quickly. ⚠️ Empathy: Speak directly to the people impacted. Not to “stakeholders” or regulators. Test your draft: if it could be copy-pasted from another company’s crisis, it’s too weak. 4. Consistency is your moat. The best defense against fakes is a recognizable “voice print.” People should know how you sound when things go right, so they can spot what feels false when things go wrong. Build that in peacetime through: ⚠️ Regular, authentic communication from the CEO. ⚠️ Internal comms that match external comms (employees sniff out inconsistencies first). ⚠️ Thought leadership that reinforces your values so audiences have a reference point. Outrage will always get first-mover advantage. Go slow, go vague, go robotic and you’ll spend the rest of the crisis defending a story you didn’t write.

💳 When Cards Failed, Trust Paid Off Saturday evening, Denmark and Sweden were hit by a major payment system crash. Cards stopped working. Nationwide. Suddenly, all the digital tools we rely on… went dark. Denmark and the Nordics are traditionally known for a very high level of society trust, but some organizations more than others. But what happened next? That’s where the real leadership story begins. 🚗 Two Bridges, Two Mindsets The two major crossings—Øresund Bridge and Storebælt Bridge—responded in very different ways: 🔹 Øresund Bridge (Swedish side) opened the gates. They let drivers pass without paying, recorded license plates, and sent invoices later. 🔹 Storebælt Bridge, in contrast, held cars back or made people wait for systems to come online (3 hours)—prioritizing the process over flow—resulting in a huge loss of image account. One led with trust. The other led with control. And here’s the result? Drivers paid their invoices. No chaos. No mass non-compliance. Just people keeping promises—because trust had been extended first. Festivals, Restaurants & Shops Did the Same At the Grøn Festival (A big music festival), food and drink vendors served customers—even when payments couldn’t be processed. They trusted people to pay later. Many did. (A few didn't, but compare the lost revenue by not selling anything, compared to writing off a few none-payers) In cafés and small shops, staff took names, snapped photos of IDs, and let guests walk out without paying on the spot. Why? Because relationships mattered more than rigid rules. A favorite comment from Reddit: “If the payment system is down, they take my contact info, and I pay later. No drama. That’s how we do it.” What’s the Real Lesson? This wasn’t about technology. It was about human systems. ✅ People honored their obligations—when trusted to do so. ✅ Organizations that focused on continuity, not control, won both respect and results. ✅ And in crisis, those with SMARTnership thinking stayed fluid and future-focused. 🧭 Ask Yourself: If your system fails, do you have a trust infrastructure to fall back on? Do your teams have the autonomy to act in alignment with your values? Are you building relationships that can withstand moments of uncertainty? In a world that automates everything, it’s easy to forget: When the system breaks, it’s the relationship that holds. Let’s design businesses, trust —and negotiations that reflect that. #SMARTnership #Trust #Leadership #CrisisManagement #CustomerExperience #OresundBridge #StorebæltBridge #GrønFestival #BusinessContinuity #Negotiation #Resilience #RelationshipCapital

5 Leadership Lessons from My Time at Sony Pictures Entertainment  How to Lead Through Crisis, even if you're facing unprecedented challenges. Here's the exact framework I developed during my 11 years at Sony Pictures, tested during one of the most significant cyber attacks in corporate history. Some called it 'The Adaptive Leadership Blueprint.' 1- Data-Driven Decisiveness ↳ When hackers compromised our systems in 2014,  ↳ we lost access to over 100 terabytes of data.  ↳ We didn't need complex technology to respond. Instead, we established a common language and relied on straightforward data insights to make quick, informed decisions. This approach helped us minimize our recovery times and costs. We did not lose out on deals, and we did not sell things we didn’t have. Data was abundant, for those with the experience to interpret it. 2- Collaborative Innovation ↳ We united creative and analytical minds across departments to solve unprecedented challenges.  ↳ When traditional communication channels were compromised,  ↳ we had to innovate - even reverting to fax machines.  ↳ This crisis proved to me that diverse perspectives lead to exceptional solutions. 3- Cultural Intelligence ↳ Leading global teams taught me that understanding cultural nuances isn't optional—it's essential.  ↳ we learned that cultural sensitivity becomes a strategic advantage when coordinating responses across different regions. 4- Adaptive Response ↳ The hack forced us to pivot rapidly.  ↳ We transformed our entire operation overnight,  ↳ showing that adaptability isn't just about surviving—it's about finding creative solutions within constraints.  ↳ This aligns with current industry trends emphasizing the need for adaptive leadership in volatile, uncertain conditions. 5- Continuous Evolution ↳ The entertainment industry never stands still.  ↳ Neither should leaders.  ↳ We learned that staying relevant means constantly evolving our skills and approaches.  ↳ Today, this includes developing remote leadership capabilities and embracing purpose-driven leadership. The Results? We didn't just survive one of the most significant cyber attacks in corporate history—we emerged stronger, with a leadership framework that works in any challenging situation. Our response became a case study in crisis management, demonstrating how data-driven decisions and collaborative efforts can overcome even the most sophisticated threats. What's your most valuable leadership lesson from navigating a crisis? Share your experience below.