Continuous and decisive leadership is the backbone of major incident response

How to Lead Through the Fire: Why Continuous and Decisive Leadership Wins Major Incidents

Let’s face it: when a major incident hits, the tech stuff matters—but it’s the leadership that keeps the team moving. In incident response, the right answer isn’t about who knows the most about the system or who has the longest on-call streak. It’s about steady, decisive guidance from the Incident Commander (IC) that keeps everyone focused, informed, and synchronized. In practice, continuous and decisive leadership is what makes the difference between chaos and recovery.

What continuous leadership actually looks like in the heat of the moment

Picture a war room where screens glow with dashboards, alerts ping, and people look to one person for the plan. That person isn’t barking orders; they’re setting a clear direction and keeping the team aligned as the situation evolves. Here’s what that looks like in real terms:

• A single, trusted voice. In an incident, confusion multiplies when messages clash. The IC speaks with one voice, consolidating inputs and presenting a simple, actionable plan. This doesn’t mean the IC knows everything—it means everyone knows who to listen to and what the next step is.

• Early decision-making with speed, not haste. Time is critical, but fast decisions shouldn’t be reckless. The IC prioritizes options, makes a call, and commits to a course while signaling that the decision may shift as facts change.

• A living plan, not a brittle checklist. The incident plan flexes with new data. The IC communicates updates, explains why a path changes, and keeps the team oriented toward the current priority.

• Clear roles and ownership. People want to know who does what and when. The IC assigns, delegates, and follows up. When a task lands in someone’s hands, the team can move more quickly and confidently.

• Cadence and transparency. Regular, concise updates to internal stakeholders and, when needed, external partners prevent misalignment. A steady drumbeat reduces speculation and anxiety.

Why leadership beats technical prowess in this moment

Engineers often know the system inside out. That depth is invaluable, sure. But during a major incident, knowledge without leadership can stall progress. Even a perfectly understood technical issue can spiral if the team lacks direction, priorities, and a shared understanding of what “done” looks like.

Consider this: you might have a brilliant runbook and a flawless Charles-in-the-park diagram, but if nobody knows who makes the call when a new alert arrives, you’ll waste minutes—hours, even—on whiplash decisions. The IC’s ongoing leadership creates the trust and momentum that convert a potential disaster into a managed incident with a measurable recovery trajectory.

A practical framework for continuous and decisive leadership

If you’re stepping into an IC role or supporting one, here are practical habits that anchor continuous leadership:

• Start with a clear objective. Within minutes of alert onset, define “what good looks like” for the incident: reduce incident impact by X, restore service to a target, or stabilize to a known state. Revisit this objective as the situation morphs.

• Establish a command cadence. The IC sets a regular rhythm: status updates, risk review, and decision checkpoints. This cadence becomes the heartbeat of the response.

• Use a decision log. Capture key choices, the rationale, who owns the action, and the expected outcome. A well-kept log makes it easier to pivot later without rehashing the entire narrative.

• Prioritize ruthlessly. Not everything can be done at once. The IC ranks actions by impact on the objective, resource availability, and risk. Short, decisive lists beat sprawling to-dos.

• Communicate with intent. Short, precise phrases work best. “We’re taking action A now; if that doesn’t hold, we switch to plan B.” If you’re unsure, say so briefly and outline the next step.

• Maintain situational awareness. The IC keeps an eye on evolving telemetry, user impact, and dependencies. They translate data into decisions and explain how each datapoint affects the plan.

• Foster trust, not theater. Decisive leadership isn’t about loudness; it’s about consistency, accountability, and calm under pressure. The team will follow a confident, grounded voice far more than a loud one.

How PagerDuty and similar incident response tooling support continuous leadership

Modern incident response tools aren’t a magic wand, but they can amplify effective leadership. A few features and practices to lean into:

• A dedicated incident commander role. When the incident starts, the IC stabilizes the situation and coordinates action across teams. Clear ownership reduces drift.

• Runbooks and playbooks that align with the IC’s plan. Ready-to-use workflows help the team execute quickly and consistently, freeing the IC from reinventing the wheel every time.

• Centralized communication and status tracking. A single source of truth—updated in real time—keeps everyone on the same page and minimizes conflicting updates.

• Cadence reminders and escalation paths. Automated prompts keep the conversation focused and ensure critical decisions aren’t delayed by a lack of input.

• Post-incident review prompts. A thorough debrief helps the IC and the team capture lessons learned, preventing repeated missteps and strengthening future responses.

Balancing leadership with the human side of incident response

Yes, you need decisive leadership, but you don’t want to suppress the team’s voice. Strong ICs invite input, especially from those closest to the affected components. A few balancing moves:

• Invite targeted input. The IC can say, “We have a plan, but I want notes from network on the routing issue.” This keeps the plan solid while surfacing critical intelligence.

• Acknowledge uncertainty. It’s okay to admit you don’t know everything right now. Pair that honesty with a path forward and a timeline for more information.

• Protect the team’s bandwidth. Part of leadership is deciding what not to do. If a request doesn’t move the needle, defer or decline gracefully.

• Normalize corrections. If a plan proves suboptimal, pivot with a clear explanation and a revised plan. People respect transparency and adaptable leadership.

Common pitfalls to avoid—and how to bounce back

Even the best ICs stumble. Here are a few pitfalls and quick ways to recover:

• Micromanagement during crisis. You don’t need to oversee every click. Delegate effectively, and focus on the strategic decisions only you can make.

• Silent gaps in communication. Silence fuels rumors. Keep a steady stream of updates, even if it’s just to say, “We’re still investigating and will share a fuller picture soon.”

• Conflicting directions. If you hear rival instructions from different leaders, pause, confirm the most senior or most relevant authority, and harmonize the plan publicly.

• Overloading the team with data. Telemetry is useful, but too much data can overwhelm. Highlight the most impactful metrics and explain why they matter.

A few analogies that make the concept click

If you’ve ever watched a conductor with a symphony, you’ve seen leadership in action without shouting. The conductor doesn’t control every violin; they cue sections, shape tempo, and ensure the whole orchestra stays in harmony. It’s the same with an IC: not necessarily knowing every micro-detail, but keeping tempo, tone, and direction so the team plays in concert.

Air traffic control is another fitting parallel. Controllers coordinate multiple flights, giving pilots time-sensitive instructions, redirecting when skies change, and staying calm under pressure. In a major incident, the IC is the air traffic controller for systems, users, and engineers, guiding each thread toward a safe landing.

What you can take away today

• In a major incident, continuous and decisive leadership is the linchpin. It stabilizes the situation, aligns the team, and accelerates recovery.

• Cultivate a leadership habit: establish a clear objective, set a steady cadence, keep a decision log, and communicate with clarity and purpose.

• Use runbooks and playbooks as your support staff. They distill best practices into actionable steps, letting you stay focused on decisive decisions.

• Remember the human side. Invite input, acknowledge uncertainties, and protect the team’s energy so you can sustain performance through the incident lifecycle.

• After the smoke clears, run a thoughtful post-incident review. It’s not a blame game; it’s a growth opportunity to refine leadership, improve processes, and harden the system against future incidents.

A closing question to reflect on

If you’re in the IC chair or supporting one, ask yourself: am I guiding with a steady hand and a clear plan, or am I letting the situation drift? The difference isn’t about brilliance alone; it’s about consistent, decisive leadership that keeps people moving toward resolve, even when the road gets bumpy.

If you’re navigating PagerDuty or similar platforms, remember this: technology helps you see what’s happening, but leadership turns that data into action. And in the end, the strongest incident response isn’t a single heroic moment—it’s a chorus of swift decisions, aligned teammates, and a plan that holds steady as the situation evolves.