When Crisis Hits, Steadiness Leads

One thing my years in L&D have taught me is this:

In a real crisis, people don’t rely on what they memorised.

They rely on the person who stays steady.

I saw this in the Maldives, well after the Boxing Day Tsunami. We had all the checklists. Everyone was trained. But one early morning, a sudden surge of water swept across the island. For a fraction of a second, the resort was ankle-deep in seawater.

Our Night Manager, usually calm on any shift, was suddenly frantic. Not because he didn’t know the procedures, but because he didn’t expect himself to unravel that quickly.

That moment taught me something important:

People are prepared for the steps.

They are not always prepared for themselves.

I’ve seen the opposite too.

 During one of my cruise assignments, a small fire broke out in the lower decks. No emergency was declared yet, but smoke was rising right under the feet of the team responsible for crew passports.

The officer-in-charge didn’t panic. He quietly gathered all the passports, reassured his team, and waited patiently for the Master’s update.

No drama. No fear. Just steadiness.

Two different environments.

Two different reactions.

The difference wasn’t competency.

It was emotional readiness.

That’s why Emotional First Aid matters.

And it doesn’t need complex theory. It just needs simple human skills:

• One steady breath before reacting

 • Speaking slower than the situation

 • Grounding a teammate who is overwhelmed

 • Noticing the person who suddenly goes silent

 • Checking on people after the incident, not just during it

Small skills. Human skills.

But they change everything.

Every time I’ve built Emotional First Aid into training, teams performed better. Not because they learned more procedures, but because they learned how to stay present when it mattered.

In a crisis, people don’t look for the perfect responder.

They look for the steady one.

And steadiness can be trained.

#learninganddevelopment #training #hospitalityindustry #crisismanagement #humanskills #workplaceculture #professionalgrowth #kketanwaghmare