Geoff Colvin is out pimping his new book, The Upside of the Downturn and has distilled out some Actions of True Leadership in this month’s Fortune. The theme around these actions is that the economic downturn is a ‘crisis’ that is going to be around for awhile, but they would also play out well for short-time ones as well.

  • Be seen early and often – successful leaders in a crisis first make emphatically clear that they are present and on the job
  • Act fast – every instinct tells you to decide more slowly than usual, yet it’s vital to decide more quickly
  • Show fearlessness – show fearlessness, not be fearless. You may be terrified, but it doesn’t matter
  • Tell a story that puts the crisis in context – reframe the crisis as a normal, interesting element of life from which we can learn and can respond to