The following is adapted from a WSJ column by Bill George, author of 'True North' and former CEO of Medtronic.

    Here are seven lessons for leaders charged with leading their organizations through a crisis:

    Lesson 1: Leaders must face reality. Reality starts with the person in charge. Leaders need to look themselves in the mirror and recognize their role in creating the problems. Then they should gather their teams together and gain agreement about the root causes. Widespread recognition of reality is the crucial step before problems can be solved. Attempting to find short-term fixes that address the symptoms of the crisis only ensures the organization will wind up back in the same predicament.

    In order to understand the real reasons for the crisis, everyone on the leadership team must be willing to tell the whole truth. Leaders can't solve problems if they don't acknowledge their existence.

    Lesson 2: No matter how bad things are, they will get worse. Faced with bad news, many leaders cannot believe that things could really be so grim. Consequently, they try to convince the bearers of bad news that things aren't so bad, and swift action can make problems go away.

    This causes leaders to undershoot the mark in terms of corrective actions. As a consequence, they wind up taking a series of steps, none of which is powerful enough to correct the downward spiral. It is far better for leaders to anticipate the worst and get out in front of it. If they restructure their cost base for the worst case, they can get their organization healthy for the turnaround when it comes and take advantage of opportunities that present themselves.

    Lesson 3: Build a mountain of cash, and get to the highest hill. In good times leaders worry more about earnings per share and revenue growth than they do about their balance sheets. In a crisis, cash is king. Forget about earnings-per-share and all those stock market measures. The question is, 'Does your organization have sufficient cash to survive the most dire circumstances?'

    Lesson 4: Get the world off your shoulders. In a crisis, many leaders act like Atlas, carrying the weight of the world on their shoulders. They go into isolation, and think they can solve the problem themselves. In reality, leaders must have the help of all their people to devise solutions and to implement them. This means bringing people into their confidence, asking them for help and ideas, and gaining their commitment to painful corrective actions.

    Lesson 5: Before asking others to sacrifice, first volunteer yourself. If there are sacrifices to be made and there will be then the leaders should step up and make the greatest sacrifices themselves. Everyone is watching to see what the leaders do. Will they stay true to their values? Will they bow to external pressures, or confront the crisis in a straight-forward manner? Will they be seduced by short-term rewards, or will they make near-term sacrifices in order to fix the long-term situation?

    Lesson 6: Never waste a good crisis. When things are going well, people resist major changes or try to get by with minor adaptations. A crisis provides the leader with the platform to get things done that were required anyway and offers the sense of urgency to accelerate their implementation.

    Lesson 7: Be aggressive in the marketplace. This may sound counter-intuitive, but a crisis offers the best opportunity to change the game in your favor, with new products or services to gain market share. Many people look at a crisis as something to get through, until they can go back to business as usual. But 'business as usual' never returns because markets are irrevocably changed. Why not create the changes that move the market in your favor, instead of waiting and reacting to the changes as they take place?

    以下内容节选自比尔•乔治(Bill George)的博客，他着有《真北：125位全球顶尖领袖的领导力告白》(True North: Discover Your Authentic Leadership)一书，曾任美敦力公司(Medtronic Inc.)首席执行长。

    负有带领公司走出危机之责的领导人应当记取的七大教训：

    教训1：领导人必须面对现实。现实从负责的人开始。领导人需要审视自身，认识自己在引起问题方面扮演了何种角色。然后他们应当集合自己的团队，就问题的根源达成一致意见。普遍认清现实是问题得以解决的关键步骤。试图找出应对危机表象的短期解决方案只会让公司最终又回到同样的困境。

    要了解危机的真正原因，领导团队中的每个人都必须愿意说出全部的事实。如果领导人不承认存在问题，就无法解决问题。

    教训2：不管情况多糟糕，它们都会变得更糟。面对坏消息，许多领导人无法相信事态真的这么严重。结果，他们会试图说服传达坏消息的人，说情况其实没那么坏，只要迅速采取行动就能让问题消失。

    这会导致领导人解决问题时力度不够。结果，他们最终采取了一系列措施，但没有一个得力到可以纠正不断恶化的形势。如果领导人能够预先考虑最坏的情况并抢先解决，情形会好得多。如果他们从最糟糕的情况出发对成本结构进行调整，一旦经济好转，公司就会处于良好的状况，也能够利用摆在面前的机会。

    教训3：积累大量资金，越多越好。在世道好的时候，领导人更多地担心每股收益和收入的增长，而不怎么担心资产负债表的状况。但危机之时，现金决定一切。别去想什么每股收益和所有那些股市指标。关键问题是：你的公司是否有充足的资金以度过最严峻的形势？

    教训4：不要什么都一个人承担。危机之时，许多领导人都像大力神一般，独力承担整个世界的重负。他们与外界隔绝，觉得自己能解决所有问题。事实上，领导人必须得到手下人的协助才能想出解决方案并付诸实施。这就意味着要让人们有信心，向他们寻求帮助和建议，并取得他们对实施棘手矫正行动的承诺。

    教训5：在要求其他人牺牲之前，自己先作出表率。如果需要做出牺牲（肯定会有这种情况的），领导人应当首先站出来做出最大的牺牲。每个人都在看领导人会怎么做。他们会不会身体力行自己所说的价值观？他们是会屈从于外部压力，还是直面危机？他们会受到短期回报的诱惑，还是会做出暂时的牺牲以修正长期局面？

    教训6：永远不要浪费危机的大好机会。在世道好的时候，人们不愿意进行重大变革，或是试图通过小打小闹的调整勉强对付过去。危机给领导人提供了平台，可以做到一些本来就必须做的事，并给人一种紧迫感，从而加速实施。

    教训7：在市场上积极进取。听上去也许有点不合常理，但危机是让形势朝着对你有利的方向发展的最好机会，可以推出新产品或服务，夺取市场份额。许多人认为需要捱过危机才能令业务回到跟平常一样的状态。但“跟平常一样的状态”永远不会回来，因为市场的改变无可挽回。不要只是坐等变化发生后被动地应对，为什么不去创造一些变化，令市场朝着有利于你的方向发展呢？