How to Be a Good Crisis Leader

The newly revised version of The Little Girl Who Grew Up to Be Governor: Leadership Lessons from the Life of Martha Layne Collins by Frances Smith Strickland is, in my view, a must-read.

The book is the story of an incredible woman who grew up to be a leader—the Governor of Kentucky, to be exact. While on its surface, the book is for children, in reality, it can offer lessons to people of all ages because it speaks to the very heart of what it is to be a good crisis leader.

What Martha Layne Learned About Leadership

At the age of eleven, the first lesson Martha Layne learned is that she wanted to be helpful. This is, in fact, the first task of a leader. She also learned that “the more people like each other, the many more wonderful things they can do together.”

While curiosity is a trait that all good leaders embody, research in the field of crisis management (CM) confirms that they don’t encourage or engage in risky behaviors that can hurt themselves and others. They try to make things as safe as possible. In the language of crisis management, they are proactive. They plan ahead for the widest array of potential crises.

No matter how difficult the job, Martha also learned the value of persistence, something that all good leaders strive to embody as well. Again and again, she learned that if people are hurting, there have to be ways of helping them. If they don’t have food, there have to be ways of feeding them. If they’re sick, they have to be helped to see a doctor.

Good leaders are always looking ahead to anticipate what is needed to deal with whatever the crisis is. Once again, they are constantly striving to practice proactive CM.

Why Good Leadership Isn't a Solo Activity

One of the most valuable lessons Martha learned was that even the best leaders can’t do it all by themselves. Everyone needs the help of others. In the language of CM, one is dependent on the aid of enumerable stakeholders. Good leaders care for all the stakeholders who are dependent on them.

She also learned that even the best of leaders can’t stop bad things from happening. Like good parents, they are continually searching for ways to make things better. Not only do they go and talk to people where they are, but by listening to them, they reaffirm their basic worth and importance.

Good leaders not only take care of those who work for them but themselves as well. It cannot be said enough: They care about all of the stakeholders who depend on them.

One of the most valuable lessons that Martha learned was that everyone makes mistakes. Nonetheless, it takes a true leader to admit them. Indeed, before one can learn from one’s mistakes, admitting them is an absolute necessity.

Martha was always willing to share her gifts and talents with others. Sharing is one of the things that good leaders strive to accomplish. Finally, in the case of governmental leaders, they work tirelessly to help people appreciate that government is not the enemy. It exists to help people. One of the primary tasks is making rules so that we can live well together.

In November 1983, Martha Layne Collins was elected Kentucky’s fifty-sixth Governor. As such, she was its first woman governor. During her inauguration, she said that she never forgot from where she came and everything that everyone did for her.

Among her many accomplishments, she helped create the Bluegrass Special Olympics. She later became President of St. Catherine College. She also worked at Georgetown College and the University of Kentucky, which named their Center for Industry and Technology in her honor.

She’s the very epitome of someone who not only felt the need to help other people, but did.