This article first appeared in Forum, The Edge Malaysia Weekly on January 17, 2022 - January 23, 2022

No one thinks much about a certain leadership quality — until the you-know-what hits the fan. The quality I am referring to is crisis management. Thankfully, true crises are relatively rare occurrences. They are the black swans of leadership.

My sister Nur Hayati was only 13 years old when the overnight train she was travelling on suddenly veered off-track and took a heavy tumble on its side. The accident could not have come at a more inconvenient time. It was raining heavily, the ground slippery and dawn had yet to break. It was dark.

Thrown out of a broken window, Nur Hayati screamed in fear and shock. But she quickly assessed her condition and realised that she was only bruised — no broken bones — and discovered that she was separated from her parents and grandmother. She needed to find them. That was her objective that rainy morning.

That little girl was in the biggest crisis of her young life. But she took it upon herself to comfort other passengers, especially a much younger child who was also thrown out, as they began the search for their parents and family members.

“There was chaos everywhere, with crumpled carriages, loose luggage and people shivering and pulling themselves together, shouting out names of their kith and kin, seeking to be reunited,” she would recall later.

The ambulances arrived soon after, and the authorities began to take control of the situation. My sister was reunited with our parents, but our grandmother suffered a broken bone and was sent to the nearest hospital.

My sister acted objectively to reach her goal. Recounting that fateful day, she said what kept her going was a question in her head, “What would Daddy do?” A thought that was mature beyond her years as a 13-year-old, one that I wish some of our folks in power had when we suffered the worst floods in 50 years recently.

You see, on Dec 16, 2021, a tropical depression made landfall on the eastern coast of Peninsular Malaysia, bringing torrential downpours across the peninsula for three days.

The resulting floods, affecting eight states, left many dead and missing. At its worst, it caused the displacement of more than 71,000 residents and affected over 125,000 people.

Declared by government officials as a “once in a century” disaster, it was one of the worst floods ever in the country. Record-high precipitation was measured in Selangor and Kuala Lumpur. And widespread damage was reported in Selangor and Pahang.

That tail-end of a tropical hurricane still sends a shiver of apprehension whenever loud thunder and bright lightning are heard and seen, a month after that fateful day.

Unlike my little sister, the people in power did not seem to have a united objective when faced with this climate-­derived crisis. The government suffered criticism over its delayed response and apathy towards the disaster. Personally, I am ashamed.

Their slow, reactive efforts eroded whatever semblance of trust the people had in this government. The authorities dilly-dallied, played with staged “We’re on the ground” photo opportunities and generally lost the moral high ground to dedicated non-governmental organisations that took up the mantle to help those unlucky enough to bear the brunt of the flood — #kitajagakita (we help each other) became the catchphrase of the time. “What would an effective government do?” did not seem to cross the confused and bewildered minds of our “leaders”.

Well Mr Government, with the bene­fit of hindsight, this is what you could have done:

In a crisis, “leaders”, or those who aspire to be, must connect with, motivate and inspire others, and show genuine compassion. In a crisis, you first need to meet people where they are. Go in your boats and send essentials and medical supplies, if you cannot bring people to dry ground. Their most basic needs must be met and they need to feel safe. Naturally, no one is interested in talking about your recent annual party assembly or strategic economic plans when they are out shivering on their roofs, waiting for food and other assistance. Once their essential needs are addressed, then the focus can shift slowly to effort alignment, common purpose and elevating others.

You ought to know by now that “leaders” always deal with ambiguity. It is timeless and comes with the job. During crises, ambiguity becomes exponential. As fear and anxiety become contagious, “leaders” must manage their own responses to ambiguity.

When leading through a crisis, “leaders” are forced to think and behave in ways that feel unfamiliar. Whether it’s a technological, financial, natural or health crisis, crises demand that “leaders” take an emergency response plan and adapt it as new evidence and factors present themselves.

All the while, “leaders” must be able to remain calm and maintain a sense of perspective. According to Gene Klann, author of the book Crisis Leadership, “During a crisis, a leader’s goal is to reduce loss and keep things operating as normally as possible.”

If you are in charge, take charge. Be proactive please, take the initiative. Do something even if it might be wrong; paralysis, over-analysing or inaction is riskier. As you make decisions and take action when leading through a crisis, communicate those actions truthfully and honestly.

During a crisis, “leaders” should be accessible. Because it is not always possible to go around and meet people in person, let affected folks know how they can best reach you with status updates and questions.

“Particularly during a crisis, employees have a need to hear from their leaders frequently. When leaders appear calm, concerned, knowledgeable and in charge, workers feel encouraged and are more likely to have confidence that things are under control and will be fine,” says Klann.

During a crisis, time is compressed. The initial onset of a crisis presents immense pressure to act — and act quickly. Sometimes, as a “leader”, you have to begin tackling a problem before you have a solid grasp of what is happening. Those would have been your initial blueprint for action.

While it is natural in uncertain times for people to turn to their leaders for definitive answers, sometimes the authentic answer they are expecting is only this, “We don’t know the extent of the damage right now” — quickly followed by, “And here’s what we are going to do”. That, Mr Government, did not happen.

Being honest with your citizenry would have brought back the trust you lost during the early days of your administration. Through your inept efforts at governance, the people have now realised that a politician is not a leader. The democratic system that we have embraced since the British left our shores in 1957 has devolved into one that only produces politicians. It does not produce leaders.

Politicians seldom know much about leadership, but they are keen to lead. They ask to lead!

Truth be told, a politician is more concerned about power and office — his future — not yours. He is not interested in the plight of the next generation, only in the next election. Bear that in mind when the next general election comes.

At the risk of being too blunt, I say to you that we need leaders, not folks posing as “leaders” to guide our nation out of its current quagmire. Business leaders are fixated on their companies’ profits and growth, and that is good for their stakeholders. It is high time our politicians step up to the plate and finally show us what they are made of and that they care for our collective future.

Zakie Shariff is executive chairman of Kiarafics Sdn Bhd, a strategy consulting group. He is also an adjunct professor at the Faculty of Industrial Management, Universiti Malaysia Pahang.

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