Answer extracted from the Ordinary To Badass podcast — listen to the full episode below.
How should leaders prepare before crisis hits to build confidence and decisive capability?
Know your policies, your people, and who holds expertise before the moment of decision arrives. Build relationships before you need favors, understand your environment, and think through consequences of situations you've already handled—because preparation creates options, and options make decisiveness easier when crisis hits.
The five pillars of crisis readiness
The foundation of decisive leadership rests on five concrete practices you must undertake long before any emergency surfaces. Know your policies and procedures inside and out, so you're not scrambling to find answers when time is critical. Know who your people are—their strengths, capabilities, and limits. Know where expertise lives in your organization and identify it by name, not by title.
Beyond knowledge of structure, know who you can call for help. This isn't about having a list; it's about relationships tested and understood before pressure arrives. As discussed in this episode of Ordinary To Badass, leaders who remain calm in crisis are those who've already mapped their support network.
Understanding your terrain and building intelligence
Understand the environment in which you operate. Ask questions before the crisis arrives—not defensively, but to genuinely comprehend the landscape, the constraints, and the opportunities. Learn from every situation you've already handled, extracting lessons about consequences, timing, and what works in your specific context.
This mirrors how leaders throughout history have approached high-stakes moments: they gather intelligence, study the terrain, build networks early, and prepare extensively. The result is not fearlessness, but something more valuable—a foundation of options that makes the final decision clear when it comes. Marie Sonneman explores how preparation separates leaders who freeze from those who act.
"Leadership isn't a personality type. It's a strategy. It's understanding people, understanding the room, knowing what you can control, building relationships, creating evidence, communicating your impact, preparing before the moment comes, asking for what you want, and then moving when it's time to move."
Marie Sonneman — Leadership Coach and Law Enforcement Lieutenant. Drawing on her dual background in law enforcement command and executive coaching, Sonneman has guided hundreds of leaders through high-pressure decisions. Her insight reflects both operational experience and years of coaching professionals navigating complex organizational dynamics.
What many observers miss is the invisible work. When you see a leader make a decisive call during crisis, you're witnessing the final five seconds—not the months or years of relationship-building, terrain study, and consequence analysis that preceded it. Preparation removes uncertainty, and removing uncertainty removes the paralysis that keeps others frozen. The full episode details how specific leaders applied this principle across radically different contexts—from Silicon Valley to historical liberation movements.
Key takeaways
- Know your policies, people, expertise sources, and support networks before crisis arrives—don't build this infrastructure in the moment.
- Ask questions and gather intelligence about your environment and stakeholders while things are calm, so you understand the terrain before you need to navigate it.
- Build relationships continuously, long before you need a favor—network depth is your crisis insurance.
- Preparation creates options; options create confidence; confidence enables decisive action when time is short.
See also
How did a historical figure who escaped captivity and later worked with Union forces in 1863 demonstrate the connection between preparation and decisive action?
She gathered intelligence, knew the terrain, had networks, and prepared extensively before acting. During the Columbia River raid in South Carolina in 1863, preparation enabled decisive action that liberated over 700 enslaved people.
What misconception do people commonly hold about decisive leaders and what actually enables decisiveness in crisis situations?
People see the moment a decisive leader makes the call and think they're fearless, but they're only seeing the final five seconds. You don't see the months or years of preparation, relationship-building, and learning that came before.
How should professionals structure their asks for promotions, raises, or additional responsibilities to increase likelihood of approval?
Connect your ask to your value and create a business case. If you want more responsibility, explain where you're prepared to own it. For a promotion, demonstrate impact and readiness through evidence of performance.