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BUSINESS ENGLISH · BUSINESS ENGLISH · ADVANCED (C1-C2)

LEADING
IN A CRISIS
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1 Warm up

Look at the word and the definition.

upheaval (noun) – a violent or sudden change or disruption to something.

In pairs, discuss the following questions.

1. What would be an example of an ’upheaval’ at work?

2. Have you experienced any ’upheaval’ at work? What happened?

Now in groups, look at the personality traits in the table. Choose six that you would want the CEO of
your company to have and order them from 1 (most important) to 6 (least important). For each one,
explain how they would demonstrate those traits.

strong compassionate communicative vulnerable

decisive focused dedicated ambitious

organised funny likeable charming

1. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

2. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

3. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

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2 Vocabulary

Words in English often have more than one form. When learning new vocabulary, it’s a good idea to
be aware of the different forms of the word you are learning.

Part A - Parts of speech

Match the words to their definitions.

1. humiliation (noun) a. a statement that seems to be contradictory or absurd, yet turns

out to be true
2. paradox (noun) b. great destruction or damage

3. devastation (noun) c. something that gives support

4. dissipation (noun) d. the act of making someone feel lower in status, shame, or
embarrassment
5. prevention (noun) e. to stop something from happening

6. bolster (noun) f. when something disappears or disperses

Work in pairs. Look at the following sentences from the script of the video you will later watch and
complete them with another form of the word in brackets.

1. Whether you are a CEO, a prime minister, a middle manager or even a head of school, upheaval
means you have to ramp up the humiliate / humility / humiliation.
2. Paradoxically / Paradox / Paradoxical, that honesty creates more psychological safety for people,
not less.
3. For example when the pandemic devastation / devastating / devastated the airline industry virtually
overnight, CEO of Delta Airlines Ed Bastian ramped up employee communication despite having
so little clarity about the path ahead, facing truly dire results.
4. Later, when cases began to dissipation / dissipate / dissipating, she made subsequent decisions
reflecting that new information.
5. Even as the immediate goal shifted from prevention / preventing / prevented illness to preparing
health systems and ultimately to bolstering / bolster / bolstered the economy.

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Part B – Prefixes

Look at these sentences from the video, and decide which prefix should be added to the words in
bold. Choose the prefix from the box. Note that not all of the prefixes are used.

counter- im- back- anti- in- up- dis- un-

1. Confident wavering leaders, armed with data and past experience have long been celebrated
in business and politics alike.
2. In a completely interconnected world a single political rising, a viral video, a distant tsunami,
or a tiny virus can send shock waves around the world.
3. Second, act with urgency despite complete information.
4. Worse, action leaves people feeling lost and unstable.
5. Our instincts are to hold even more tightly to control in times of upheaval, but it fires.
6. One of the most effective ways to show leadership, if intuitive, is to share power with
those around you.

Part C - Discussion

In pairs or groups, complete the questions using your answers from Parts A and B. Then, answer the
questions.

1. Have you had a line manager who showed h (positive meaning)? What did they
do?
2. What steps do you take at work to p problems from happening at work?
3. Can you give an example of when you had to b other people in your office when
there was a problem?
4. Can you give an example of when action leads to problems at
work?
5. Give an example of a time when a decision or an action fired ?

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3 Watching for general understanding

Watch the video and number the following points that the speaker makes into the correct order. The
first one has been marked for you.

Act with urgency

Be transparent

Follow your values

Share the power

4 Watching for details

Now watch the video again and answer the questions.

1. The speaker says we don’t usually celebrate leaders who are ...

a. experienced.
b. cautious.
c. firm.
d. assured.

2. However, great change can happen. Which example does she NOT give of situations which can
cause massive change?

a. a political movement
b. extreme weather conditions
c. a terrorist attack
d. a virus

3. The speaker asserts that in a time of crisis, we need leaders who are ...

a. confident.
b. strong
c. constant
d. humble

4. She tells us that, firstly, communication for managers is important, but they must ...

a. be honest about the limitations of their knowledge.

b. only confirm what information they know.
c. be honest that they don’t know what they are doing.
d. assure their team that they have all the answers.

5. The second rule for managers in a crisis is ...

a. wait until they have all the information they need before acting.
b. make a plan and wait until you have the information you need.
c. act quickly, even if you don’t have all the information.
d. act quickly when you have all the information you need.

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6. The example given of New Zealand’s Prime Minister, Jacinda Ardern shows that a leader should ...

a. consult with others and then take action.

b. use what information they have to take action, then make adjustments later if needed.
c. make a plan using what information they have and then stick to it.
d. avoid taking action until they have all the knowledge they need.

7. The third point that the speaker made was to keep your ... at the heart of your decisions.

a. customer experience
b. goals and aims
c. guiding light
d. principles and purpose

8. The final point the speaker makes is that a good crisis manager should ... so that people feel ...

a. delegate tasks/ invested in the process and part of the solution.

b. take the time to explain their thoughts/clear on what is happening.
c. take full responsibility/protected from negative outcomes.
d. stick with a plan/certain of where they are going.

In pairs, discuss these questions.

1. Did you think the advice the speaker gave was good? Do you think it is advice that the leadership
in your company would use? Why/Why not?
2. Is there any advice that you think should be added?

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5 Talking/writing point

In groups, look at the task below. Together, compose an email. Remember to check each other’s
grammar, spelling and punctuation.

It is March 11th 2020.

Covid-19 has just been declared as a pandemic and it is clear that it has become a
serious problem that will have an impact on your company’s work practices.

It is possible that it will have an impact on your company’s finances.

Your group is the senior management of a company of more than 10,000 people.

All of these people are concerned for their future and their families.

Using the ideas from the video, write an email telling your employees what is going to happen next
and how you plan to deal with the crisis.

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Transcripts
3. Watching for general understanding

Amy Edmondson: We think of a great leader as the unwavering captain who guides us forward
through challenge and complexity. Confident, unwavering leaders, armed with
data and past experience have long been celebrated in business and politics alike.

Amy Edmondson: But sometimes and certainly now, a crisis comes along that is so new and so urgent
that it upends everything we thought we knew. One thing we know for sure is
that more upheavals are coming. In a completely interconnected world a single
political uprising, a viral video, a distant tsunami, or a tiny virus can send shock
waves around the world.

Amy Edmondson: Upheaval creates fear, and in the midst of it people crave security, which can
incline leaders toward the usual tropes of strength, confidence, constancy, but it
won’t work. We have to flip the leadership playbook. First, this type of leadership
requires communicating with transparency, communicating often. So how can
leaders lead when there is so little certainty, so little clarity? Whether you are
a CEO, a prime minister, a middle manager or even a head of school, upheaval
means you have to ramp up the humility. When what you know is limited,
pretending that you have the answers isn’t helpful.

Amy Edmondson: Amidst upheaval, leaders must share what they know and admit what they don’t
know. Paradoxically, that honesty creates more psychological safety for people,
not less. For example, when the pandemic devastated the airline industry virtually
overnight, CEO of Delta Airlines Ed Bastian ramped up employee communication
despite having so little clarity about the path ahead, facing truly dire results. At
one point in 2020, losing over a hundred million dollars a day, it would have
been far easier for Bastian to wait for more information before taking action, but
effective leaders during upheaval don’t hide in the shadows. In fact, as Bastian
put it, it is far more important to communicate when you don’t have the answers
than when you do.

Amy Edmondson: Second, act with urgency despite incomplete information. Admitting you don’t
have the answers does not mean avoiding action. While it’s natural to want
more information, fast action is often the only way to get more information.
Worse, inaction leaves people feeling lost and unstable. When New Zealand
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern laid out a four-level alert system very early in the
COVID-19 crisis, she lacked information with which to set the level. Despite
lacking answers, she did not wait to communicate about the threat with the
nation. At first, she set the level at two, only to change it to four two days later
as cases rose.

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Amy Edmondson: That triggered a national lockdown, which no doubt saved countless lives. Later,
when cases began to dissipate, she made subsequent decisions reflecting that
new information. Third, leaders must hold purpose and values steady, even as
goals and situations change. Values can be your guiding light when everything
else is up in the air. If you care about customer experience, don’t let go of that
in times of upheaval. If a core value is health and safety, put that at the centre of
every decision you make. Now doing this requires being very transparent about
what your values are, and in this way, your steadfastness shows not in your plans,
but in your values. Prime Minister Ardern’s clear purpose all along was protecting
human life.

Amy Edmondson: Even as the immediate goal shifted from preventing illness to preparing health
systems and ultimately to bolstering the economy. And finally, give power away.
Our instincts are to hold even more tightly to control in times of upheaval, but it
backfires. One of the most effective ways to show leadership, if counterintuitive,
is to share power with those around you. Doing this requires asking for help, being
clear that you can’t do it alone.

Amy Edmondson: This also provokes innovation while giving people a sense of meaning. Nothing is
worse in a crisis than feeling like there’s nothing you can do to help. We follow
this new kind of leader through upheaval, because we have confidence not in their
map but in their compass. We believe they’ve chosen the right direction given the
current information, and that they will keep updating. Most of all, we trust them
and we want to help them in finding and refinding the path forward.

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Key

1. Warm up

10 mins.
Ask the students to look at the definition and discuss the questions. You may want to give them some example
sentences with upheaval in them to help them understand usage. e.g.
The financial crisis has caused a lot of upheaval in my company. I think there are going to be quite a few redundancies.

Place students in groups. Ask them to choose and then order the personality traits for their ideal CEO. With higher
level students, you may want to just use the words as a guide and allow them to choose their own personality
traits. Ensure that students are able to exemplify their choices with examples of behaviour. Allow the groups to
feed back to the class and see if you can find common choices.
If possible, have them in groups from different countries. You may be able to identify different desirable personality
traits from people in different cultures.

2. Vocabulary

Part A,B and C: 15-20 mins.

Part A:
Ask students to match the words to the definitions. Then ask them to look at the sentences from the video script
and underline the correct form of those words in the sentence.
You may want to point out that the word humility has a positive connotation, while humiliate and humiliation have
negative connotations, despite being from the same word family.
Elicit correct answers with the whole class.
1. d 2. a 3. b 4. f 5. e 6. c

Sentences:
1. humility 2. Paradoxically 3. devastated
4. dissipate 5. preventing; bolstering

Part B:
Explain that prefixes are letters added to the beginning of words that change or alter their meanings. Students
at this level should be familiar with this concept. Ask students to use the context of the sentences and perhaps
dictionaries or the Internet to work out which prefix they should add to the words in bold.
You may wish to extend the activity by asking students to think of other examples of words with these prefixes
and what the prefix does. You can give some examples:
UN - makes something opposite, e.g. uncomplicated, undo, unachievable;
UP - often indicates an upward motion or placing, physically or metaphorically, e.g. upheld, upgrade, upstage;
IN - without or lack of, e.g. insensitive, incoherent, inability;
BACK - indicates a backwards motion or a reversal, e.g. backdate, backlash, backpedal;
COUNTER - indicates the opposite, or a reaction e.g. counterproductive, counterculture, counterargument.
Answers:
a. un b. up c. in d. in e. back f. counter

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Part C:
Ask students to first complete the questions using their work from the previous exercises. Then discuss the
questions. You may want to allow students some time to prepare answers to the questions or write notes ahead
of discussing them for lower-level students.
1. humility 2. prevent 3. bolster 4. in action 5. backfired

3. Watching for general understanding

5 mins.
This exercise allows the students to view the video and just follow the gist and understand the structure of the
talk. More advanced students may be able to do both this and the Watching for Details exercise simultaneously.
You may want to ask students to explain what they think the titles will mean before they watch the video.
1. Be transparent 2. Act with urgency 3. Follow your values 4. Share the power

4. Watching for details

5 mins.
Ask the students to read the comprehension questions first and try to predict the answers. They will already know
something about the video from working on the vocabulary. Then have them listen and check their predictions.
1. b 2. c
3. d 4. a
5. c 6. b
7. d 8. a

5. Talking/writing point

15 - 20 mins.
Organise the students into groups and have them read the task and produce the email. While this is asking
them to produce some written work, the focus should be on discussing what language to use to convey their
leadership style during a difficult time. Allow students to discuss. You may want to ask them to complete the
emails for homework individually, or you could ask them to produce it as a group. It’s a good idea to assign areas
of responsibility to each member of the group so that there is a collective involvement. For example, someone
can be responsible for grammar, someone else for spelling and punctuation, another for word choice, etc.
As an extension activity you may like to do the following:
Look back at the Warm Up exercise. Would you choose the same qualities for a CEO during a crisis as you did for
a CEO under normal conditions? What would you change? Why?

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