Sometimes leaders hit a moment they rarely say out loud: you have no energy—and people still depend on you. In Dana Pavlychko’s case, the early months of war created exactly that reality: a country at a standstill, a business under pressure, and a personal tank that felt empty.
This is where courage in times of crisis stops being a personality trait and becomes a practice: allow a short pause, then return to responsibility and forward motion one step at a time. Not because it’s easy—but because doing something is often easier than freezing.
The crisis moment: when everything stops
When Florian Haufe asked Dana where she found the courage and energy to keep going—relocating to a new country with her family while still carrying leadership responsibilities—she didn’t romanticize it. She described a blunt truth: for roughly two months after the war began, she had no energy. The business wasn’t expected to do much. The whole country felt paused.
That detail matters for leaders and entrepreneurs navigating uncertainty. A brief standstill can be a normal human response to overwhelming conditions. The risk isn’t the pause itself—it’s when the pause becomes the plan.
The turning point: “you have to get back to business”
Dana’s shift wasn’t framed as sudden inspiration. It was responsibility.
“But then you realize that you have to get back to business. Like you have partners, you have contractors, have a team, you have projects, you have B2B projects, B2C sales, and you kind of have to understand that somebody has to… be the grownup.”
This is leadership during crisis in plain language: someone has to reduce uncertainty for everyone else. Not through grand speeches, but through decisions and follow-through.
That idea aligns with broader crisis leadership guidance that emphasizes calm responsibility and adaptability, even without a perfect response—for example, Harvard Kennedy School’s framing of crisis leadership as being brave, calm, and adaptive (Public Leadership Through Crisis: be brave, calm, adaptive).
The one-step framework for courage in times of crisis
Dana’s words give leaders a practical sequence—an operating rhythm you can repeat when conditions are overwhelming.
1) Allow a short pause (but don’t pretend it’s a strategy)
Dana described those first two months as dreadful and depleted—yet also a period where a pause was, in context, acceptable. Leaders don’t need to deny emotional reality. But the pause should be bounded: a moment to breathe, assess, and stabilize—then re-enter.
2) Name your responsibility (be the grownup)
In the transcript, Dana grounds responsibility in real stakeholders: partners, contractors, team members, ongoing projects, and both B2B and B2C activity. That’s a useful checklist for leaders returning after disruption:
- Who is waiting on me?
- What commitments did we already make?
- What breaks if I disappear for another week?
This is why responsibility can be a stabilizer. It reduces chaos for others and gives you a clear reason to act, even when motivation is absent. Similar crisis leadership commentary highlights humility and transparency—admitting uncertainty while still taking action (examples of great leadership in times of crisis or uncertainty).
3) Re-enter through one concrete next step
Dana’s core method is simple: one step at a time. That phrase isn’t a slogan—it’s a way to prevent overwhelm from taking over your day. Instead of asking “How do we solve this entire crisis?” you ask “What is the next solvable step?”
- One conversation you’ve been avoiding
- One decision that unblocks the team
- One operational task that restores basic function
In unpredictable environments, step-by-step execution is a leadership operating system, not a compromise.
4) Use action to regulate energy
One of the most practical lines Dana shares is that action can be easier than withdrawal:
“And also, it’s actually easier to do something as opposed to just remove yourself from society and kind of not do anything.”
This matters for managing energy in hard times. Leaders often wait to “feel ready” before acting, but Dana describes the reverse: action can be the mechanism that helps you return to yourself.
How to lead when energy is gone
The transcript doesn’t offer a long checklist of crisis tactics, but it does imply a leadership stance: don’t disappear; return to the work through responsibility and small steps. Here are practical implications that follow directly from Dana’s crisis posture.
Prioritize continuity over optimization
In the immediate aftermath of disruption, the goal isn’t “best possible.” It’s “keep the machine running.” Dana described ongoing operating processes even during the pause—then a return to solving business issues step by step. That’s the backbone of resilience in business: maintaining enough continuity to make the next decision possible.
Communicate like an adult, not a performer
“Be the grownup” is a communication style as much as a responsibility style. It suggests calm, clear updates and realistic commitments—without pretending things are fine. Crisis leadership guidance often emphasizes staying calm and empathetic while moving to decisions; Herrmann International summarizes this as a pattern of assessment, empathy, and decisive action (Effective Leadership During Crisis: a practical guide).
Don’t confuse isolation with recovery
Dana contrasts doing something with “remov[ing] yourself from society.” For leaders, isolation can quietly become avoidance. If you need a brief pause, take it. But then re-enter with structure: one meeting, one task, one decision—today.
What courage produces over time
Dana’s story doesn’t present courage as a single heroic moment. It’s compounding: returning to business, addressing issues step by step, and eventually making a major strategic decision—selling the business—because she clarified what she wanted next.
In other words, courage in times of crisis can produce:
- Survival (the organization keeps functioning)
- Clarity (you learn what you can do—and what you no longer want to do)
- Better decisions (made from motion, not from paralysis)
That long-run, incremental view is consistent with well-known leadership examples where small, disciplined actions under pressure create outcomes over time (Harvard Business School Online on courageous leaders and lessons).
A simple CTA: the next step that creates momentum
If you’re in a hard season, write down the single next step you can take today—and then take it. Momentum is a decision.
FAQ
How do you find courage when you feel depleted during a crisis?
Start by allowing a brief pause if you truly need it—but don’t live there. Dana’s approach is to return through responsibility (“be the grownup”) and take one step at a time until motion and clarity come back.
What does “one step at a time” look like in business leadership?
It means translating a chaotic situation into one concrete next action: a decision, a conversation, or an operational task that unblocks others. The point isn’t to solve everything immediately—it’s to keep moving.
How can leaders take responsibility without burning out?
Dana’s framing implies two boundaries: accept that a short standstill can happen, then re-enter with small, structured steps rather than trying to carry everything at once. Responsibility doesn’t have to mean intensity—it can mean steady execution.
