I watched my father run his business through the Lebanese Civil War. Here’s what it taught me about leading through disruption.

The first time I saw my father close our family grocery store early, I was 7 years old. Shelling had started 3 blocks away, and he didn’t want staff or customers caught in crossfire. That was 1975, the start of the 15-year Lebanese Civil War — and the beginning of my unplanned, front-row crash course in leading through disruption.

For 15 years, power grids failed weekly, supply chains collapsed overnight, and armed checkpoints made routine deliveries impossible. Yet our small business survived, even grew, while bigger competitors folded. My father never read a Harvard Business Review article on crisis management. His lessons were hard-won, practical, and universal for anyone leading through chaos.

Why Most Leaders Get Disruption Wrong

Most executives treat disruption as a temporary storm to wait out. They freeze hiring, cut budgets, and pause innovation until "things go back to normal." My father knew better: the Lebanese Civil War proved normal was never coming back.

Leading through disruption requires abandoning the idea of a return to the status quo. When your environment changes permanently, your leadership has to change too.

5 Actionable Lessons for Leading Through Disruption

These aren’t theoretical frameworks. They’re rules my father followed to keep our business alive, and they apply to modern leaders facing supply chain crises, AI disruption, or economic volatility.

1. Prioritize People Over Profit Every Time

When shelling destroyed our main warehouse in 1982, my father didn’t lay off staff to save cash. He split remaining inventory between employees to sell from home, so they still had income. We lost 40% of revenue that quarter, but kept 100% of our team.

When disruption hits, your staff is your only constant. Leading through disruption means putting their safety and financial stability first — loyal teams will help you rebuild faster than any cost-cutting measure.

2. Build Redundant, Local Supply Chains

National distributors stopped delivering to our area in 1978. Instead of closing, my father partnered with 3 local farmers and 2 small truckers who knew back roads to bypass checkpoints. We paid 15% more for goods, but never ran out of stock when competitors did.

Global supply chains are fragile. Build relationships with local suppliers, even if they’re more expensive. Redundancy is cheaper than a total stockout during a crisis.

3. Communicate Clearly, Even When You Have No Answers

My father held 10-minute standups with staff every morning, even when he didn’t know if the store would open that day. He never lied about risks, never overpromised, and always shared what little information he had.

Uncertainty breeds rumors. Leading through disruption requires radical transparency: tell your team what you know, what you don’t know, and when you’ll share updates next.

4. Pivot Fast, But Stay True to Your Core Mission

When imported coffee became impossible to source, we started roasting local beans in-store. We didn’t change our core mission of serving affordable, quality food to our neighborhood — we just changed how we delivered it.

Disruption forces pivots, but don’t abandon your brand’s core value. Customers stick with businesses that stay consistent to their mission, even when products or services change.

5. Save Cash for 6 Months of Runway, Minimum

My father kept 8 months of operating expenses in a safe (banks froze accounts routinely during the war). That cushion let us buy inventory in bulk when prices dipped, and keep the lights on when sales dropped 60% for 3 months straight.

Most businesses fail in a crisis because they run out of cash. Leading through disruption means building a runway that covers you even if revenue disappears for half a year.

Disruption Is the New Normal — Lead Accordingly

The Lebanese Civil War ended in 1990, but my father’s lessons stayed with me as I built my own business. Today’s leaders face different disruptions: AI automation, climate change, geopolitical conflict. But the core rules of leading through disruption haven’t changed.

You don’t need a MBA to lead through chaos. You need to put people first, stay flexible, and plan for the worst while hoping for the best.

Watching my father run our business through 15 years of war taught me that disruption isn’t an exception — it’s a constant. The leaders who thrive aren’t the ones who wait for calm waters. They’re the ones who learn to steer through the storm.