The solutions to much of what the current circumstances require and much of what can be achieved already exists in the knowledge, experience and ideas of the workforce. If these invaluable resources are to be fully harnessed it is vital that leaders remember that everyone who works for them is an adult and not a child and communicates accordingly and with integrity and authenticity.

In terms of becoming your own ‘Disaster Movie’ too often political pressures and the prefered political style of dealing with these situations can sometimes lead to politicians doing the opposite. Moreover, this political approach can often be accompanied by implicit expectations (and sometimes explicit instructions) to communicate with staff in a vague, bland, or worse, in a deceiptful manner.

Regretably, on occasions senior managers who should know better but lack the courage to challenge such expectations or instructions are only happy to conspire with this dishonest approach. They may be managers but they are not leaders, neither are the politicians who expect them to behave like this.

Moreover, staff will see straight through this and an organisation of potential allies and supporters is immediately turned into a group of people who are distrustful, fearful and resistant to what needs doing. Guerilla warfare can very quickly become the order of the day as the self inflicted ‘Disaster Movie’ is scripted from the utterances or the silence of the leadership.