Upstanding

CHAPTER 8Responding to Crisis

“The Chinese use two brush strokes to write the word ‘crisis.’ One brush stroke stands for danger; the other for opportunity.”

—John F. Kennedy

Your true character is what shows up in times of crisis.

No matter what kind of organization you work for, your company will be tested and pushed to its limits by crisis. Whether it's company-specific (when Volkswagen was caught cheating on emissions standards), regionally based (the 2011 earthquake, tsunami, and Fukushima nuclear disaster in Japan), or global in scope (the 2008 financial crisis), it's rare for any organization to escape the blistering heat of crisis. The question is not if it will happen, but when.

The night after the murder of George Floyd in May 2020, protests against police brutality began in Minneapolis then spread quickly to other U.S. cities, and eventually, worldwide. I had posted a short note on Slack expressing support for Black Lives Matter and the Black community, and we held our all-company meeting a week after the protests broke out.

Every minute that I wasn't in meetings, I was reading the news and educating myself about the rampant racism and inequity that Black communities have had to endure. I was disturbed and saddened, but also filled with resolve about what I needed to do as a concerned citizen, parent, and CEO. Although the all-company meeting helped to set the tone for internal discussions, two things happened that felt like a punch in the gut.

When we initially ...