One undervalued and underused role of the leader is to interpret what is happening to people.  When something happens often times people are surprised and caught off guard.  Also, many times people have never experienced the incident or event before or to that scale.

So leaders need to help people interpret what does this mean or perhaps provide questions to get people to think productively.  Sometimes leaders need to tell people how they are feeling and what is going on in their minds.  Do you feel angry?  Are you scared?  This helps people relate to the leader.

The leader though needs to say what they think.  I was confused about what happened.  I am guessing many of you were too.  As I was driving home I realized that ………   What this means to me is……….  I personally am getting more excited now.  Yes I was angry at first, and maybe am still a little.  However, I am now more excited than anything else.

Yes, leaders sometimes need to help interpret what is happening.  Sometimes, they even need to suggest ways to feel or respond.  More to come!