Leading Through Crisis Means Leading Through Context

 

I just finished reading Conquering Crisis: Ten Lessons to Learn Before You Need Them, the latest leadership book by (retired) Admiral William H. McRaven. Many of the chapter titles resonated with my own experience in issue management—especially Trust the Second Law of Thermodynamics and There Is Always Time for a Morale Check.

But one chapter title stopped me in my tracks: Micromanagement Is Not an Ugly Word.

That statement challenged me. I’ve experienced firsthand—both as a micromanager and as someone being micromanaged—the negative outcomes it can create: diminished trust, lowered morale, and the loss of skilled team members.

However, reading the chapter helped reframe my perspective. Admiral McRaven isn’t advocating for disempowerment or rigid command-and-control leadership. Instead, he emphasizes the importance of clarity—leaders must spend as much time as necessary, and often more than they think is needed, to clearly communicate expectations, boundaries, and constraints.

He also reminds us that setting expectations isn’t a one-and-done activity. As conditions evolve, so too must our guidance. While “it depends” might be the most overused phrase among project managers, perhaps “context counts” should be a close second.

Admiral McRaven’s closing line captures it perfectly: “As the conditions change, you may need to adjust your guidance to fit the situation on the ground.”

True leadership isn’t about controlling every move—it’s about knowing when to lean in, when to step back, and always keeping context at the core.