Are you still in the crisis?
I was terrified.
It was 2:45 in the morning. Sleeping deeply, I was awoken by the blare of an unbelievably loud smoke detector.
Instantly, I was in survival mode.
What’s happening?
Am I safe?
What do I need to do?
All these thoughts quickly ran through my mind as I jumped out of bed.
Thankfully, within a few moments, the alarm stopped. As suddenly as it started. I took a quick look around the house to assess the situation. No clear cause for that night’s terror. I was safe.
Thank goodness.
Now that I knew I was safe, I sat down to catch my breath.
I took another look around and realized that the likely culprit was my furnace filter. It’s one of those reusable polarized filters, the kind that you rinse out and put back in. It had been nearing the end of its life, and getting harder and harder to clean, no longer doing enough to keep debris out of the air. I swapped out the furnace filter with my other replaceable one (still in rough shape) and turned off the furnace for the night.
Having done what I could in the middle of the night, I was able to go back to bed.
In the morning, I researched and ordered new filters, bought a disposable filter to use until the new ones came in, and replaced the batteries in each smoke detector.
Then I could move on with what I actually had planned for the day.
Can you move on when the crisis is over?
So often, I see leaders who are still in urgent/triage mode well after the emergency has been handled.
Walking on eggshells with the client well after their threat to leave has been addressed.
Overcommunicating the action steps being taken long after the missed deadline.
Letting the harsh words from a past manager continue to shadow their confidence.
So how do we move on when the crisis is over?
Here are three things that might help you move on from a crisis situation:
Understand the root cause
If the reason the situation happened isn’t already obvious, it’s time to dig in to understand why things happened. This might include bringing in an expert, holding a post-mortem with your team, or taking time in reflection.
Did your team miss the big deadline because the scope was too big or because they didn’t factor in a key step in the process? Is your partner mad because you didn’t include her in the decision, or because you made her look uninformed in front of your kids?
Develop your action plan
Once you know the root cause, you can make a plan around what you need or want to address to mitigate the consequences and reduce the risk of recurrence.
Perhaps the sudden departure of an important team member left a major gap in knowledge. How do you want to ensure more knowledge is shared going forward? Maybe you missed your kid’s big game. How will you get the reminders you need to make sure you’re there on time for the rest of the season?
Communicate
Sometimes we can’t move on after a crisis because those around us aren’t ready or don’t believe things are taken care of. Sharing out our plans and confidence can help everyone move forward.
Perhaps your team missed their margin targets last month. Who needs to know what you’re doing to reduce costs and increase revenue? Maybe you had a health scare. How do you show your spouse that you’re taking care of yourself so he can support you to make the changes you need to make?
We go into action mode when faced with a crisis, but how do we move back into a normal mode of operation? Understanding the root cause, developing an intentional action plan, and communicating that plan to those who need to know can be key in helping us move forward after a crisis.
What crisis are you still living in?
If you find this resonates, let’s talk.
Book time, and we’ll figure out how to get you unstuck and get going.
How will you iterate towards the person you’re becoming?
April 17, 2025
About the author:
Christina Von Stroh is a leadership coach who helps her clients become wildly successful by applying iterative software development practices to achieve their dreams. Want to work with Christina to help you iterate towards the person you’re becoming?
Book your free strategy session.
