The article opens with two striking examples of crises in the business sector, which make it clear that a crisis itself is never the real problem. Rather, it exposes what were already hidden weaknesses, such as outdated systems or unclear decision-making processes. Aalbers, Full Professor of Corporate Restructuring and Innovation and one of the authors, emphasises that crisis management is not an innate talent but build on competencies that can be developed over time: "Crises don't create weaknesses; they reveal the lack of prior reorganisation and adaptation. The exposure of these flaws isn't necessarily a failure of crisis policy, but a failure of anticipation. Effective leadership means realising the crisis is merely a symptom of an organisation's inability to evolve before the storm hit."
What makes crisis leadership successful? Seven capabilities to help minimise damage and facilitate recovery
How does an organisation deal with a crisis? A new article in MIT Sloan Management Review* demonstrates why some organisations manage crises effectively, whilst others get bogged down. In ‘Level Up Your Crisis Management Skills’, experts in Innovation & Transformation, Rick Aalbers, Killian McCarthy and Arjan Groen outline what successful crisis leadership entails. To this end, they interviewed high-level leaders from government, the business sector and public institutions.
Seven capabilities (7Cs)
The experts spoke with various leaders: from top executives at multinationals to a former prime minister. The interviewees’ experiences with various crises, such as cyberattacks, natural disasters, political instability and technological failures, provide a broad perspective on crisis management. From this, they identified seven capabilities (7C’s) that help to weather a crisis. Eather capability also has five stages of maturity: from reactive to strategic. Aalbers: “Not all organisations need to be equally mature in all of the 7C’s, but to avoid buckling under the pressure of a crisis, they need sufficient maturity across the practices. As a leader in professional services put it, ‘A company can survive weakness in one area, but only if the rest of the system holds together’.” McCarthy, Associate Professor of Strategy and one of the authors, adds: “Our interviewees also emphasized one overarching lesson: practice matters. This requires an additional reinforcing factor: culture — that is, the daily reality of ‘how we do things around here’. Cultivating a culture that supports the 7C’s is critical.”
The 7C’s:
- Contingency: it is crucial to prepare for what might happen and to define role upfront so that people know what to do;
- Clarity: clear, transparent, early and honestly communication prevents panic and misunderstandings;
- Coordination: teams, departments and external partners must work together seamlessly. Poor coordination leads to delays and errors;
- Compassion: showing genuine empathy for all who may be affected by the crisis, both inside and outside the organisation, builds credibility and confidence and, critically, buys time to deal with the situation;
- Confrontation: leaders must face the hard truths early;
- Control: decision rights must be defined in advance, it must be clear who decides what, and those closest to a situation must be given the authority to act when necessary;
- Continuity: an organisation that systematically learns from a previous crisis becomes demonstrably more resilient and is better prepared for the next crisis.
Key lessons
The article makes it clear that crisis management is a necessity for organisations, not a matter of instinct. In a world where crises are the rule rather than the exception, investing in these seven capabilities is vital for organisations to become structurally stronger. McCarthy: “In a world where crises are being the norm, crisis capability is competitive capability.”
*) MIT Sloan Management Review is part of an influential list of 50 leading academic journals (FT 50) in the field of Business Administration and Management. The Financial Times uses this list to rank the research performance of business schools worldwide.
Image at the top of the article: © Michael Austin/theispot.com
Aalbers, R., McCarthy, K., & Groen, A. (2026). Level up your crisis management skills. MIT Sloan Management Review, 67(2). Summer issue.
Contact information
For further information, please contact Rick Aalbers or Killian McCarthy.
- Organizational unit
- Nijmegen School of Management, Institute for Management Research, Business Administration