Management by crisis leaves little space for actual leading

In business leadership, urgency is often mistaken for effectiveness. Many leaders wear busyness like a badge of honour, waking up each day bracing to scrape through, tackling problems only once they’ve erupted into full-blown crises.

This sort of mentality has taken root in many organisations, and one can easily understand why, especially when starting out. But what happens when urgency becomes a culture rather than an exception?

‘Management by crisis’

Management by crisis leaves little room for genuine, creative and proactive leadership because it forces leaders to operate in a constant state of reaction rather than intention.

While occasional crises are inevitable and difficult to plan for, operating in a continuous state of emergency often reflects deeper systemic problems like poor planning, weak communication, or a lack of vision.

Instead of setting a clear vision, inspiring teams, and driving long-term value, leaders become consumed by putting out fires, often ones they themselves started.

The consequences

In the Maltese corporate sphere, where SMEs and family businesses play a significant role, it’s not uncommon for founders or directors to stay deeply involved in operational details.

This often results in them becoming the bottleneck for decision-making, leading to problems only getting addressed when they explode.

When crisis becomes the norm, it’s often all hands-on deck, regardless of role or workload.

Employees are left facing an uncomfortable dilemma: do they protect their boundaries and risk being seen as uncommitted, or do they quietly absorb the pressure, working longer hours out of a sense of guilt or responsibility?

More often than not, it’s the latter, resulting in frustration, fatigue, and a slow erosion of morale.

But the ripple effects don’t stop there:

• Burnout: Constant urgency drains employees emotionally and physically
• Talent Drain: High performers, especially millennials and Gen Z workers, value work-life balance. A crisis-driven culture pushes them away
• Short-Term Thinking: Firefighting consumes the bandwidth needed for strategic planning
• Loss of Trust: Stakeholders begin to question the competence of leadership when the same issues repeatedly spiral out of control

The solution

If you suspect your organisation is running on crisis management, you’re not alone, it happens even in the most capable teams. The good news is that there are practical steps you can take to break the cycle and lead more proactively.

• Prioritise strategic planning: Set aside regular time for long-term planning. Anticipate risks, explore scenarios, and align your team around a clear vision
• Strengthen communication channels: Foster open, two-way communication across all levels of the organisation. Problems should surface early and not when they’ve already exploded
• Empower middle management: Train and trust middle managers to make decisions. This prevents bottlenecks and ensures issues are resolved faster and closer to the source
• Clarify roles and responsibilities: When everyone knows what they own, accountability improves and fewer issues fall through the cracks
• Conduct regular risk assessments: Periodically review where the organisation is most vulnerable – from financial exposure to team capacity – and address those proactively
• Document and improve processes: Create guidebooks for common issues, and refine processes based on past learnings
• Schedule time for deep work and reflection: Leaders need mental space to think strategically, not just react. Block out time in your calendar for non-urgent but important work
• Learn from every close call: When a crisis does happen, conduct a no-blame post-mortem. Identify what went wrong, what was missed, and how to prevent a repeat