Holding The Line: Entrepreneurship Is Crisis Leadership By Default

When people think of a crisis, they picture collapsing markets or financial shocks. But in my experience, those are not the hardest crises to lead through. After ten years of running an independent agency in the Middle East, I have learned that the most testing moments do not come from client losses or delayed payments, they come from people.

Globally, studies suggest that up to 82 percent of small businesses fail because of cash flow problems, and late payments are one of the biggest headaches for entrepreneurs in the Middle East. I have felt that pressure first-hand as an independent working with global brands. But over time I have realized that while financial challenges are urgent, they are usually solvable. There is always a negotiation, a forecast adjustment, or a new business push that can steady the numbers. What really keeps me up at night are the people challenges, because there is no formula or invoice cycle that can fix culture, trust, or performance.

Running a business means living in volatility. A client can pull out overnight, a big pitch you have invested months in can collapse without explanation, payment terms can stretch so far that they threaten your forecast. But the true backbone of a business is not just cash flow, it is culture. And the moments that shape the future are not on the balance sheet, they are in the conversations with people that determine whether your team stays aligned and committed.

Entrepreneurs rarely have the full picture. Unlike corporates, we do not have the luxury of committees or endless modelling. By the time you have perfect information, it is often too late. That applies as much to people as it does to strategy. Do you promote someone who is not fully ready but has the hunger to grow, do you intervene when performance is slipping knowing the conversation could be uncomfortable, do you make the call to let someone go even if it hurts?

Personally, I’ve learned that the wrong decision made with conviction often creates more momentum than the right decision made too late. At JWI, the independent Dubai-based creative and events agency I lead as CEO, I have seen teams rally faster around a clear call—even if imperfect—than they ever do around delayed perfection. The biggest leadership lesson I have learned is that people respect honesty, even when it is difficult. At JWI, I have always tried to approach challenges with authenticity, to show my team that I care about their personal growth as much as their professional one.

In my experience, the vast majority of team members who receive direct, honest feedback show measurable improvement within two months, and the wrong people usually decide to leave within six. Global analytics and advisory firm Gallup’s research shows that only around 21 percent of employees globally describe themselves as engaged at work, and even in the UAE, where the rate is higher at 29 percent, the difference between an engaged team and a disengaged one often comes down to trust in leadership. I have seen that trust is not built by sugarcoating or silence, it is built by honesty, consistency and the willingness to have the conversations most people would avoid.

In the Middle East’s fast-paced environment, no quarter looks the same. Client demands shift, cash flow stretches, and opportunities appear and disappear in weeks. It can feel like one long series of mini-crises. What steadies the business is not perfect strategy or flawless forecasts, it is people who are aligned, resilient and committed. And those people only stay committed when they believe you are leading with authenticity. After a decade of building JWI, I see crises differently. The business challenges, the late payments, the client exits, the market shifts, they are survivable. There is always a solution. But the people challenges define your culture, your credibility and your future. They are the moments that test not just your leadership, but your values.

That is why I believe entrepreneurship is crisis leadership by default. The real crises are constant. They live in the conversations we would rather avoid, the truths we have to tell, and the people we choose to grow with. And if you can lead through those, you can lead through anything.

About The Author

Charli Wright is one of the region’s youngest female leaders in the creative services industry. At the age of just 24, Charli moved from the UK to Dubai to set up the Middle East office of JWI (formerly Rave Communications), which she then grew into a multi-milliondollar integrated advertising agency that works with some of the world’s biggest brands, including Gillette, Ariel, Braun, Patrón Tequila, and Grey Goose. She has since gone on to acquire JWI, with the milestone coinciding with its ten-year anniversary in the Middle East, marking an exciting new chapter for the agency under her ownership.