Leading a Crisis – or Being Led? Why Crisis Communication Always Starts with Ourselves

What Happens Under Pressure? Psychodynamics in a Crisis

Stress and uncertainty trigger routines that provide short-term stability—but often exacerbate problems in the long run. The brain switches into crisis mode: away from creative thinking and toward survival mode—fight, flight, or freeze dominate behavior. In leadership, this often manifests as tunnel vision, reduced empathy, and rigid decision-making. Under pressure, our perspective narrows, empathy diminishes, perception becomes distorted, and signals are misinterpreted. This makes crisis communication unpredictable—and sometimes truly dangerous when it leads to silence, deflection, or outright denial.

The Neurobiology of Crisis – How It Affects Communication

Neuropsychological response patterns are hardwired biological mechanisms. The higher the pressure, the more primitive stress programs drive behavior. Empathy, perspective-taking, and problem-solving—the very skills most needed in communication—are blocked. Cortisol inhibits creativity, and low dopamine suppresses innovation. Successful crisis communicators need self-regulation, awareness of their own thinking and behavior patterns, and efficient strategies for managing them.

The paradox is that many leaders believe they must appear exceptionally strong in a crisis: “Decide fast,” “push through,” “show no weakness.” The problem: this mindset shortens the mental space between stimulus and response, resulting in lost clarity.

Under stress, activity quickly turns into blind reaction. Black-and-white thinking may feel liberating at first—but in the background, entire learning and reflection systems go offline.

This has a direct impact on communication:

• Less listening

• Less nuance

• Reduced access to one’s own emotions

• Lower ability to prevent escalation

• In short: when the brain is tunnel-focused, communication is tunnel-focused as well.

A Key Strategy: Pausing for Clarity

To understand crises from the inside out, one must focus on a simple yet crucial mechanism: the moment between stimulus and response. It is precisely in this moment that the most important decision is made—whether a leader remains capable of acting or disappears into the tunnel of stress.

In highly dynamic situations, information, expectations, and conflicting signals bombard leaders simultaneously. The body reacts reflexively: stress hormones surge, focus narrows, and thinking shifts into automatic patterns. Many leaders experience this as a burst of energy, even though internally they are already in defensive mode. This is what makes crises particularly prone to communication missteps.

Psychiatrist Viktor Frankl captured this concept with a phrase that today reads almost like a directive for crisis communication: “Between stimulus and response, there is a space.” This space is not just a philosophical idea—it is a neurobiological reality. Leaders who can pause interrupt the automatic stress cycle and regain access to cognitive abilities that are the first to break down under pressure: perspective-taking, listening, prioritizing, and verbal clarity.

In practice, a brief pause is an act of sovereign leadership. In crisis communication, the value of this space becomes particularly clear. A few seconds of pause:

• Lower acute stress levels

• Reactivate the frontal lobe as the control center for rational decisions

• Create distance from one’s own emotions

• Prevent hasty statements that could escalate the situation

This short moment acts as an antidote to typical escalation dynamics. It guards against verbal misfires, unnecessary harshness, or frantic overreaction, enabling communication that provides orientation rather than creating additional problems.

Five Levers for Effective Leadership Communication in a Crisis

Effective communication in a crisis arises from purposeful strategies, skills, and tools—as well as conscious inner leadership. Here are the key levers:

• Creating distance: Pausing interrupts the automatic stimulus-response chain. This brief distance ensures messages remain clear and reactions are guided by awareness rather than stress.

• Providing orientation through milestones: Uncertain situations require reliable checkpoints. Clear intermediate goals create structure, convey feasibility, and provide orientation.

• Resource management: Recognize and protect your personal sources of energy and resilience.

• Maintaining contact: Conversations and dialogue are the central steering instruments in crises. Active exchange prevents isolation, opens possibilities for action, and helps avoid escalation.

• Taking control: Crises remove control, but how leaders respond remains their choice. Leaders who see themselves as designers of the situation communicate proactively, clearly, and with empathy.