Not too long ago, I woke up in a hospital bed asking myself, “How did I get here?”
It all started when I was stung twice—first by a bee and then by a wasp two weeks later. The stings were roughly two inches apart on the same arm. After the first sting, my arm swelled badly, but I figured it would pass. Following the second sting, my arm looked like Popeye’s.
Three days after the second sting, I developed major stomach and back cramps that landed me first in urgent care and then—per the medical staff’s recommendation—in the emergency room. Long story short, I learned that I had a rare reaction to the two stings: pancreatitis.
Pancreatitis from insect stings? You can’t make this stuff up.
In business, we get stung too
A customer complaint. A public relations misstep. A key employee’s resignation. We often treat these as minor annoyances and try to brush them off. But what we really need to do is notice each sting and consider the consequences—because sometimes what seems small can accumulate into something serious. As yourself these questions:
- What can you do to be ready for the next sting?
- What does your organization need most when it happens?
- How can you strengthen your crisis management skills now before the pain becomes unbearable?
As the character Nigel says in Finding Nemo, “Fish gotta swim; birds gotta eat.” And I’ll add: “Insects gotta sting.” There’s no controlling external forces, especially nature; and the same is true in the business environment.
Stings will happen. The question isn’t whether you’ll overcome them but whether you’ll treat them as an annoyance, letting the root cause fester, or face them head on with candid curiosity.
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Quick recovery requires proactive leadership
As leaders, we need to be proactive, transparent, and empathetic so that our teams feel equipped to handle surprises. Organizations led by proactive, transparent leaders are 2.5 times more likely to outperform peers during a crisis, according to PwC’s Global Crisis Survey.
That week in the hospital forced me to slow down and remember that recovery requires a pause. A reset. Taking stock of how I was caring for myself—and my systems—was necessary, not optional.
I’ve led through plenty of crises in my career, but this personal crisis was different: no boardroom, no playbook, no control. It was just me, an IV bag, and a stark reminder that resilience isn’t about powering through; it’s about pausing, listening, and diagnosing the problem—no matter how unlikely it may seem.
Leaders can do the same after a sting
Pause with your people. Reset together. Evaluate the health of your organizational systems. Is your team prepared to handle the ups and the downs or just the ups?
When you’re leading, the instinct is to keep pushing. But just like your body needs rest to heal, your organization sometimes needs to get back to wellness basics. Strip the layers, simplify, and remove the distractions so you can ready yourselves for the next sting.
