1. Introduction
Humans have experienced crises since the beginning of time. History tells us that since the earliest crisis, mankind has attempted to deal with these incidents, survive, learn from them, and be better for having survived them. Leadership theory dates to the mid-19th century and the industrial revolution. While leadership theory has developed extensively since it was first founded, crisis leadership theory has not developed on pace with general leadership theory. Additionally, most books on leading during a crisis neglect to discuss how leaders can use spirituality and faith to help their organizations through these difficult situations. This book is designed to provide the reader with an in-depth discussion of how they can better lead during a crisis by relying on their Christian faith. While many books on crisis leadership (and general leadership theory, as a whole) tend to focus on the individual as the key component, this book will focus on the Christian faith as the major point of emphasis in crisis leadership. Examples of how Christians have dealt with crisis in the past will be presented alongside specific examples from the Bible that reinforce the importance of faith in crisis leadership.
The focus of this book will be on crisis leadership instead of crisis management. The distinction between the two is nuanced but is distinct and will be reinforced in the book but there may be a slight amount of overlap between the two in certain examples provided due to the quick reactions required during a crisis. Much of the book will look at the attributes and behaviors seen in successful leaders and how faith can improve upon these two important areas for crisis leaders.
2. What is crisis leadership?
Jeremiah 29:11 For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.
1 Peter 5:1-4 The elders who are among you I exhort, I who am a fellow elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, and also a partaker of the glory that will be revealed: Shepherd the flock of God which is among you, serving as overseers, not by compulsion but willingly, not for dishonest gain but eagerly; nor as being lords over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock; and when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of glory that does not fade away.
A crisis is generally defined as a situation that develops quickly and requires a response from a person or an organization in order to mitigate the consequences. Boin, McConnell, and Hart in (Cuoto, 2010) describe the subtle difference between crisis management and crisis leadership in the following statement,
we should not assume that crises are simply bad news for leaders, with crisis management focused purely on damage limitation, both operationally and politically. Crises may also provide leaders with unique opportunities to discard old policies and commitments, kick-start new ones, reform public organizations, and reshape the political landscape by forging new coalitions.
Here the point is that the immediate “clean up” of and reaction to a crisis fit much better in the definition of crisis management while the leader who uses the crisis to improve the organization is conducting crisis leadership.
Much like how scholars have generally defined leadership and management as different entities, crisis leadership and crisis management will be similarly treated with crisis management concentrating more on an individual crisis and crisis leadership concentration on how different crisis can be compared and how leaders can prepare their organizations to better handle these situations (Mitroff, 2011).
Boin, McConnell, and Hart (in Cuoto) (2010) explained the importance of perception to crisis in the following definition:
In sum, crises are the combined products of unusual events and shared perceptions that something is seriously wrong. However, no set of events or developments is likely to be perceived fully uniformly by members of a community. Perceptions of crisis are likely to vary not only among communities—societies experience different types of disturbances and have different types and levels of vulnerability and resilience—but also within them, reflecting the different biases of stakeholders as a result of their different values, positions, and responsibilities. These differential perceptions and indeed accounts of a crisis set the stage for crisis leadership. (p. 230)
Crisis leadership is important to both the student and the current leader. This book will serve as a guide for them to incorporate their faith into their leadership as they stay faithful with the knowledge of what God has done, what He can do, and what He has promised to do.
3. Personal crisis and relationship to organizational crisis leadership
Corinthians 4:16-18 So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.
Mark 14:34-36 “And He said to them, 'My soul is deeply grieved to the point of death; remain here and keep watch.' And He went a little beyond them and fell to the ground and began to pray that if it were possible, the hour might pass Him by. And He was saying, 'Abba! Father! All things are possible for You; remove this cup from Me; yet not what I will, but what You will.'"
Ps. 34:18 “The LORD is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.”
Everyone has experienced some form of crisis in their lives. While the magnitude of the crises may vary, it cannot be denied that we live with crisis as a fundamental experience in our lives. How we respond to these crises shapes who we are and what we become. The common thread from the Bible verses listed at the beginning of this chapter is that God is with them in each case. No matter how dire the circumstances, God is close to the individuals and is there to provide comfort and hope. Personal crises that we see come from deaths, disappointment, relationships, and disasters. Organizations must also experience crises but in a somewhat different manner.
Organizations experience crises that are somewhat different than what is experienced personally. Organizations do experience deaths, disappointments, and disasters, the way they are experienced by the organization are different since the impact is felt by a collection of people forming the organization. Since this impact is different the response is also many times different. A leader must understand the similarities and difference between an organizational and personal crisis and they must understand that they should learn from their personal struggles and apply what they have learned to their leading of their organization. &n
