Lessons on Leadership from the Little Things in Life: When a Crisis is Coming

Life is full of examples that teach us lessons. That’s why stories and illustrations make learning so much more effective. When a story can be used to illustrate or demonstrate a valuable lesson, the story makes it much more understandable, relatable, and memorable. With that in mind, I want to take some time to do just that – share examples of circumstances and stories experienced in everyday life which illustrate leadership lessons that we can learn and apply. This is one of those examples, and it teaches us about being prepared for a crisis when it comes.

We live in the south, so it’s a warm climate, and we don’t have to deal with freezing temperatures very often. Because of that, when it does happen (depending on how cold and how long the freeze is), it can be considered a crisis to some degree (pun intended). And also because of that, we have to be more conscious and intentional about doing things to prepare for the freeze, which those who live in cold climates probably don’t have to think about as much. Therefore, in a recent winter when we were expecting several days of freezing temperatures, there were some things that I needed to prepare for, but I also needed guidance.

You see, our home and our yard were made with our warmer climate in mind, which means that freezing temperatures can have a damaging effect if I don’t prepare. The water in our sprinkler system could freeze and burst the pipes, and the plumbing in our exterior walls is more susceptible to freezing. There were some simple things that I needed to do, like opening up the cabinet doors under bathroom sinks, so that the space in the cabinets would receive heat from the house. But there were also some things that were a little more complicated, like draining the sprinkler system. So, I had to do a little research and talk to someone who knew how to do that to make sure that I knew the right steps. With the right guidance, I was able to be prepared to weather the crisis (again, pun intended).

There are lots of lessons for life and for leadership that you could pull out of this experience, but there are three that jump out to me:

1. Be prepared. There will be crises and unexpected things that happen, but you usually have some indication that trouble is coming. So be intentional about knowing what you need to do ahead of time to be as prepared as possible. Beyond that, have a preparation plan so that when you are surprised by a crisis, you can respond quickly.
2. Do the simple things. There are often simple things that you can do that will mitigate the effects of the crisis. Those are the things that tend to be common knowledge or common sense, but they help to minimize the impact, with relatively minor effort.
3. Get help. Talk to experts or to others who have navigated a similar circumstance, and seek resources and sources of information that will help you know what to do next. You don’t know everything, so it is far wiser to get help than to make foolish and unnecessary mistakes.

These were lessons on leadership (and on life) that came from this little thing in life, a cold weather freeze that lasted a few days. There were things that I could do to prepare for what was coming, there were simple things that I did as it was happening that helped me get through it well, and I sought guidance and wisdom to help me manage the things about which I knew little. You will not be able to avoid crises and unexpected obstacles, but you can apply these same principles to your leadership when the time comes. Be prepared. Do the simple things. Get help. If you can learn these leadership lessons from this little thing in life, you will be much more ready to navigate a crisis when it comes.