Crisis as Catalyst: Why the Toughest Moments Reveal the Strongest Teams
- vmacefletcher
- Apr 11
- 2 min read
By Virginia Fletcher, CIO/CTO
No matter what else is happening around me at work, I sleep well at night knowing I have an incredible team.
That wasn’t always the case. When I first joined this organization, I was tasked with building a new technology leadership team. We inherited a mix of challenges including aging infrastructure, legacy systems needing transformation, and at the same time, the need to deliver greenfield, AI-powered products using state-of-the-art platforms. It wasn’t a straightforward task. But it was a leadership challenge I welcomed: to find, empower, and support a team that could do both: transform the old and build the new.
Fast forward to a few weeks ago. We encountered a significant systems outage, one that had the potential for weeks worth of disruption. Instead, my team rallied, aligned, and recovered in a matter of days.
This experience reinforced something I’ve come to believe deeply: adversity doesn’t just test your team, it accelerates it.
What Made the Difference?
Looking back, the response to this crisis checked every box of what research and experience say about high-performing teams:
Clear Roles & Responsibilities – Everyone knew their part. There was no confusion. That clarity is built long before the emergency.
Effective Communication – In high-stakes situations, communication isn’t a luxury, it’s a lifeline. Ours was fast, frequent, and frictionless.
Trust and Autonomy – I saw leaders and their teams making calls in real time, confident that they had the trust and backing to execute.
Shared Accountability – No finger-pointing. Just a shared mission and relentless focus on outcomes.
Psychological Safety – People spoke up. They took initiative. They highlighted risks early and offered creative solutions without fear.
Leadership with Empathy and Grit – We didn’t just push hard, we supported one another. That balance matters.
From Tuckman to Traction
Bruce Tuckman’s team development model, Forming, Storming, Norming, Performing, might be academic, but in this case it was tangible. We lived it.
The outage pushed us past the “storming” zone, and because of the foundation we’d already built including shared goals, trust, leadership, and care for each other, we blasted through to “performing” at a velocity I didn’t think possible. What normally would’ve taken months happened in days.
Success under stress created a new kind of momentum and a deeper bond.
Lessons for Other Leaders
If you’re navigating disruption or leading transformation, here’s my advice:
View challenges as accelerators. They reveal your team’s true capabilities—and sometimes untapped ones.
Pay attention to who steps up. Some leaders shine in crisis. You’ll discover new strengths you can nurture.
Use adversity as a recalibration moment. Reassess who’s in what seat. Clarify roles. Invest in what worked.
Institutionalize the gains. The protocols, trust, and cadence you build in crisis can serve you long after it’s over.
Building for the Long Game
A high-performing team doesn’t happen by accident. It’s nurtured by intentional leadership, a people-first mindset, and alignment to bold yet feasible business goals. And when the unexpected hits, that’s when you see the real returns on that investment.
I’m proud of what we achieved during this outage, but I’m even more excited for what we’re now capable of because of it.
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