How many times in history have we seen examples where crisis situations evolved rapidly and leaders were stuck without good options? Everything escalates rapidly. They recognized problems too late. There is no one available who can step in to fix things.
How many times has that happened to you?
Perhaps the best people and project managers, and the best political, military, and organizational leaders are largely unknown. They planned well and systematically generated options so that major crises didn’t happen.
Reviewing crisis events pushes us to ask and answer this question: “What could have been done differently to prevent this from happening?” There are sometimes mechanical and process factors. There are almost always missed opportunities to have built relationships. Weak relationships will lose to stronger relationships when the crisis comes.
The optionality that leaders need often comes down to “Who can help here?” Pre-existing relationships have platinum value. Your web of relationships represents options you have to prevent bad outcomes, or begin to address them quickly before they become a crisis.
Create time every month to diversify and deepen your personal network.
