Page 57 - MS Year in Review 2020

Lessons from Past Crises: Successful and Unsuccessful Crisis Leadership

Our research objective was to derive insights and lessons which might help
corporate leaders navigate the crisis caused by the current Covid-19 Pandemic. This
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research is described in our book titled, The Crisis Leadership Playbook.

Navigating a Crisis

Although all crises are different, based upon our research we find that all crises

actually have a number of things in common. Accordingly, current organizational
leaders can benefit from the experience of others who successfully navigated

past crises, and also benefit from the lessons of some other who failed to
navigate past crises successfully. As a colleague of mine has aptly stated, “A
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good sailor knows he cannot change the wind, but he can adjust his sails. ”

Our Select Sample

The companies or case studies included in the sample were some of the most iconic

names of US economic history: American Express, Chrysler, Disney, Eastman
Kodak, International Harvester/Navistar, Osborne Computer, Sears and United

Airlines, and Westfield. These case studies were selected to illustrate both
successful and unsuccessful examples of leadership responses to crises.

The successful examples were American Express, Chrysler, Disney,

Westfield. The unsuccessful examples were Eastman Kodak, Osborne Computer,
Sears and United Airlines. The case of International Harvester/Navistar had
elements of both success and failure; but on balance we view it as a partial-

success.

28 Eric Flamholtz and Yvonne Randle, with a Foreword by Scott Minerd, The Crisis Leadership
Playbook, Vandeplas Publishing LLC, Lake Mary FL. and the ISBN: 978-1-60042-513-4.
29 I am indebted to Paul F. Wetmore (Managing Director, Wealth Management Advisor, Merrill Lynch)
for this observation.

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