The Engineering Leadership Coach | Microsoft, Yahoo, SAP, Carnegie Mellon | Engineering with People Intelligence
At Microsoft, I once walked behind a VP into an outage meeting. Screens were red. Graphs were spiking. Engineers were locked in, hunched over their keyboards. No one dared break focus. Then the VP spoke. “What’s the latest?” 5 mins later—“Any updates?” 5 mins after that—“Why is this taking so long?” He wasn’t fixing the issue. He was the issue. What should’ve been a 1-hour fix became a 5-hour disaster. Here’s what I learned: In a crisis, great leaders don’t add noise. They remove it. If you don’t understand the issue, shut up and listen. If the right people are on it, get out of the way. If your boss needs answers, contain the panic—not spread it. Because when everything breaks, people don’t remember who yelled the loudest. They remember who kept them focused. — If you want to lead with calm, focus, and grit, join my weekly newsletter, The Concisous Leader: https://lnkd.in/g3J25k5w
This is so true. Unnecessary questions can waste teams time and productivity. Great leaders avoid noise and keep the atmosphere as calm as possible in my experience.
Totally agree with this. In high-stress moments, it’s easy for leaders to get caught up in the urgency and start demanding updates, but that just adds pressure. A great leader steps back, lets the experts do their thing, and keeps everyone calm. Sometimes, it’s about giving people space and trust, not just talking.
Love this one. There are leaders that are exemplary in leading during the crises, regulating their own emotions and staying grounded. They can provide direction calmly and even in that situation are prioritizing ruthlessly avoiding distractions, leading by example with their composed demeanor. Most importantly "Empowering Others" to handle responsibilities and reducing bottlenecks. A critical reaction during these times is to gather relevant information instead of reacting impulsively so they can make informed choices without overanalyzing. Great leaders use stress as a catalyst for growth, an opportunity for innovation, adaptability and team cohesion.
Spot on! In high-pressure situations, leadership is about enabling, not interfering. The best leaders trust their teams, provide support when needed, and remove roadblocks instead of becoming one. Clarity and calmness drive real problem-solving.
This is such a powerful leadership lesson — one I can personally resonate with, as I experienced something similar recently within my own team. When things go sideways, the role of a leader is to create clarity and calm, not add to the chaos. I’ve seen firsthand how crucial it is to trust the team, give them space to work through the problem, and focus on removing roadblocks instead of adding pressure. In those moments, it’s not about having all the answers — it’s about creating an environment where solutions can emerge faster. What really stays with people isn’t who asked the most questions or who looked the busiest — it's who kept everyone focused, steady, and empowered to solve the issue. This post is a great reminder of that — something every leader should take to heart. Thank you for sharing! 👏
"Great leaders don’t add noise. They remove it." Dang, this quote right here is 🔥
Interested to know your take on what could have been done differently if someone was in the VP’s shoes? How to shut up and listen? How to transform the noise to white noise/silence? How to contain the panic if it’s coming from every angle through different layers?
He was 'managing' and would take credit no matter how much worse it became. We used to have a weekly walk through of execs in our war room, and my boss used to joke how the VPs would pick out one thing on a chart just to 'show you how much they knew.' Was almost like clock work.
Sometimes, the best leadership move is knowing when not to talk.
I help tech organizations build Systems, Products, and Teams for sustainable growth | Agile Coach | Project Management Consultant | Leadership Development | Strategic Planning
3wNailed it! The best leaders don’t add pressure—they absorb it. In a crisis, staying calm and clearing the path for your team is what truly makes the difference. More action, less noise!