13 Jan Leadership in times of crisis at the Ministry of Education

This morning at the Ministry of Education, I facilitated a discussion on the theme ‘Leadership in Times of Crisis’. The session was opened by the State Minister H.E. Dr. Samuel Kifle.

We talked about the need to continual grow as leaders, especially in times of crisis so as to survive, outlast, and thrive in the aftermath. We also talked about how one’s leadership is tested in times of crisis (more than in times of peace and normalcy), and the way a leader responds and handles it determines his/her success now and in the future.

Some examples of leaders and institutions that succeeded and those that stumbled when faced with a crisis, and why. Once covered some background information, the rest of the session focused on answering a few major practical questions: What are some of the qualities crisis (war) time leaders have and how can we develop those attributes we don’t yet have to lead ourselves, our team, department in the midst of crises? What differentiates institutions (teams) that survive and even thrive in times of crisis from those which become bankrupt or irrelevant or those that struggle to just survive? What kind of mindset, early warning system, process, ad hoc crisis response team, and so on are needed to be proactive, responsive (restorative), and resilient in times of crisis? Thank you so much Dr. Solomon Abrha for coordinating the meeting successful.

I learned that these leaders have tried their best to respond to multiple crises at once to serve our country’s higher educations, students, teachers, and other stakeholders by being proactive, calm, and committed in the midst of overwhelming and stressful challenges. This is my hope that the conversation we had may inspire and equip them to take their crisis time leadership to the next level so that not only they overcome the bottlenecks they are facing now and in the near future but also get ready more than ever to handle future unforeseeable crises.