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In business, a wrong decision can cost you money. In war, it can cost you your life.
Thomas Matthews, now a retired U.S. Army Colonel, had to make life-or-death decisions in full-out crisis mode, once with very tragic and very public results. His leadership experience included the Task Force Ranger mission in Mogadishu, Somalia on October 3, 1993. On that day, five of his aircraft were shot down. Two of them crashed in the city of Mogadishu. More than 500 Somalis and eighteen American soldiers were killed. Trapped overnight in the hostile city, his unit was rescued the next day.
The grisly scene was broadcast around the world.
Matthews talked about how and why he made the decisions he did that day at the Leadership, Values, and Spirituality Forum held at Harvard Business School on April 4, 2003. HBS professor Henry Reiling was panel moderator.
The failed mission, which had been launched at the direction of the United Nations to grab two lieutenants of a warlord, was later recounted in the book, Black Hawk Down: A Story of Modern War by Mark Bowden, and reenacted in a 2001 feature film of the same name directed by Ridley Scott.
| In crisis what you try to do is make your life as simple and as black and white as fast as you can—because it is serious. |
| —Thomas Matthews |
"That was my crisis, that point in time as a commander of that aviation force, the leader in charge. And what are you going to do?" asked Matthews, a sober man with ramrod-straight posture and an unwavering voice.
He said he is not sure how exactly he made decisions that day. "You're out of time," he told the group. "You have a situation in your face ... I don't know [how I knew]; but I'll just tell you that in my mind's eye every decision I made I felt was crystal clear," he said.
"I don't know the metrics or the reasons for all that. I'll just tell you it was clear in my mind's eye what should be done at that moment. Here's why I think some of that's true. It is a function of experience. It is a function of time on the rock: I've been in the Army for twenty-eight years.
"I will say it is also a function of where you came from, what your family was, what your religion was, what's your base, your foundation, your cornerstones that you grew up with. And they vary [for leaders], but there are some common things there. And it's off of those base things ... because in crisis what you try to do is make your life as simple, and as black and white as fast as you can—because it is serious. And because of that you power down and revert to basics."
The Army's leadership doctrine is used for soldiers aged eighteen through generals. They embed it, practice it, and preach it, Matthews said. The word crisis in the abstract means urgency, danger, a problem. In the military, the consequences are often life-threatening, he added.
"And of course you have to live with the effects in the future of the consequences of your action. That's not always the case" in other professions, he said.
What all leaders should be, know, and do
Matthews offered the audience and other panelists a brief primer on the Army's leadership framework. Though leaders in civilian life are fortunate to be spared from making decisions with such dire consequences, they may benefit from the basic foundation.
The essential framework is known as "Be, Know, Do." Leading hinges on the DO part, Matthews said. "In order to be a leader, you've got to do; you must act." Words such as "loyalty" do matter. "We have a motto: NSDQ. It means, Night Stalkers Don't Quit. That matters in time of crisis and [when] you're under a lot of stress: Don't quit. Persevere. Have the will to push through the problem."
In times of crisis, he said, do the right thing. "What is that exactly? You know. Do the right thing. You know what's not right, and oftentimes you can define this in the negative sense. You can define what to do, what the correct leadership decision is, by knowing what you shouldn't do, what you wouldn't like to see be done," he said.
"Leaders have self-confidence. They get it by being comfortable in their own skin. They get comfortable in their own skin by being grounded emotionally, being supportive of others, and having had the freedom to fail."
"It's easy to say," he admitted, but leaders need to remain calm during conditions of stress, chaos, and rapid change. Anyone can prepare in advance for the possibility of crisis leadership, he said. "If you work on it now when you have time prior to the crisis, then that's the way you'll behave at the time of the crisis, because you know no other way to behave."
Maintain a positive attitude, he said. The thinking should be: The glass is half full; we'll figure it out; we'll handle it; we'll survive the situation.
The BE piece of the Army framework means character. Character can be strengthened through repetition, practice, and daily behavior. In a crisis a leader will "power down" to the basics of character. The pressure of subordinates looking to the leader for guidance is also a very powerful stimulus for decision-makers.
The KNOW piece of the Army framework means competence. It means technical and tactical competence, said Matthews. "That means work, study, put in the time. Do it now while you have the time. You won't have time to open a book in time of crisis," he said.
Other experiences with crisis
Joining Matthews on the conference's Leadership During Crisis Situations panel was Donald Hastings (HBS MBA '53), chairman emeritus of Lincoln Electric Company. He said that as a leader he found meditation to be very helpful.
For Dr. Gary Klein, head of his own research organization, Klein Associates, it has come from examining decision-making through the lens of science, and more recently through observing leadership in action.
For Ford Rowan, it has come from practical experience accrued as a lawyer, journalist, and university professor.