Storm Leadership: How to Stay Grounded During Times of Crisis | Anna Thomas | TEDxOneonta

On August 4th, 2020, while driving to the hospital in a torrential storm, the speaker encountered a situation that would profoundly impact her understanding of leadership and crisis management. As she arrived, sirens blared, and a wave of fire trucks sped past the ER entrance, turning towards the daycare where her three-year-old daughter was. Forgetting her initial meeting, she followed the trucks to find a scene of devastation: snapped trees, overturned cars, and the roof ripped off the building. A tornado, hidden within the storm, had torn through the daycare. Blocked from entering by an officer, she was directed to a nearby building where evacuees were being gathered. Inside, the hallway was chaotic, and panic overwhelmed her. Her heart pounded, she couldn't think, breathe, or move, yet everything inside her screamed to act. In that moment of paralysis, a lesson from medical school resurfaced—a principle she applied daily as a physician but never in her personal life: in an emergency, before rushing in, one must first check their own pulse, take a deep breath, and only then make a move. In the midst of the chaos, she closed her eyes, felt her pulse, took a deep breath, and then began to systematically search for her daughter, room by room, asking staff for help. She eventually found her daughter, soaked and trembling but safe, wrapped in a towel. The deep breath hadn't stopped the external storm, but it had calmed the internal one. This experience led her to develop what she calls "storm leadership," a three-step approach to navigating crises: pause, prioritize, and persevere. She emphasizes that we cannot face external storms until we have conquered the storms within ourselves. Storms are inevitable, whether they manifest as natural disasters, illness, grief, burnout, or financial collapse. We cannot always prevent them or even see them coming, but we can choose how we lead ourselves through them. The first step, the pause, is crucial. In times of crisis, our instinct is often to act fast, fix things, or power through. However, pausing is not weakness; it is wisdom. This concept is rooted in neuroscience. The prefrontal cortex, the brain's executive command center responsible for decision-making and navigating uncertainty, goes offline during high stress due to a flood of cortisol. Instead, the more primitive amygdala takes over, triggering a "fight, flight, or freeze" response. This is why she froze in the hallway. Constant stress keeps the amygdala blaring and the leadership brain offline. The pause acts as a reset button. Checking one's pulse forces a stop, shifting focus from external chaos to internal steadiness. Paired with a deep breath, it slows the mind, steadies the body, and creates space for conscious choice instead of mere reaction. Research shows even a 10-second pause can lower cortisol and bring the leadership brain back online. The daycare teachers, facing the tornado, paused just enough to remember their next steps, and she herself paused in that hallway, demonstrating the power of this first step. The second step is to prioritize. Storms demand triage; we cannot do everything. When faced with overwhelming options, everything feels urgent, leading to decision fatigue, even for capable leaders. To lead effectively, one must prioritize what matters most. At the daycare, the teachers couldn't do everything, so their number one priority was getting every child to safety. This involved ushering 20 toddlers into a closet while the roof was being torn off—a profound act of leadership. Naming and ranking priorities out loud can reduce decision fatigue, improve focus, and allow for intentional energy allocation, enabling forward movement even amidst the storm. This is seen in hospitals triaging care, families recalibrating after diagnoses, and communities rebuilding after disasters. Finally, the third step is to persevere with others. Often, in hardship, there's a belief that going it alone is easiest. However, true perseverance involves reaching out for support, as isolation makes us vulnerable. The daycare teachers persevered together, guiding children and picking up babies, demonstrating interdependence rather than isolation. A single tree in a fierce wind is likely to snap, but a forest with intertwined roots and a shared canopy stands stronger. The strongest among us are those who link arms and stand together. The speaker concludes by emphasizing that the way one leads oneself through a storm determines survival. When emotions surge, pause, check the pulse, and breathe to let the leadership brain reemerge. When everything feels urgent, prioritize by asking what matters most. When tempted to give up, persevere with others by reaching out for support. This is storm leadership—not about controlling external events, but about leading oneself well internally. Five years later, the daycare has been rebuilt, incorporating bricks from the old building not to remember fear, but to honor the courage and resilience that began within, making the rebuilding possible. Whatever the storm, practicing storm leadership—to pause, prioritize, and persevere with others—allows one not just to survive, but to rise above it, because the fiercest storms are never on the outside.