Leading Through the Ripples: What The Whale Tragedies Reveal About Leadership During Crisis

Beneath a moonless sky, the Pacific hummed with invisible tension.

Far below the surface, four whales ... these giants of the sea.... moved through their ancient migratory path. Everything felt familiar: the cold current’s steady pull, the faint echo of distant song. But then the ocean shuddered.

It happened in the hush before dawn.

An earthquake shook the sea, a violent tremor that traveled not just as a rush of water, but as chaos made manifest.

For a moment, time fractured. Sonic waves... sharp, foreign...pierced the depths, distorting the world the whales had always known.

Disoriented, the pod tried to communicate.

Their clicks and calls twisted in the turbulence.

The ocean’s ancient language, once a melody of certainty, unravelled into a discordant confusion. Salt and sand spiraled, currents raged, and the whales, unsettled by fear and instinct, surged toward what felt like shelter.

But the coastline was a trap. Driven by confusion and the relentless aftershock of the seismic wave, the whales surfaced in shallow waters.

The rising sun lit their massive forms as they thrashed, stranded, unable to return to their deep blue sanctuary.

Soon, the news traveled across continents: four great whales, lifeless on the shore.

It would be easy to call this a tragedy.... and it was. But in their fate lies a warning and a mirror, especially for those who lead.

The Waves Beneath Our World

Leadership, too, is often shaped by unseen tremors. We guide our teams through vast, sometimes stormy seas, rarely seeing what lurks beneath.

In business, as in nature, the big waves aren’t always the ones you see. Whales struggle not just with the visible tsunami, but with aftershocks...sound waves, disorientation, and changes in their habitat.

Similarly, your team may face aftershocks following a crisis, merger, or sudden change. Crisis can strike suddenly: a sudden market collapse, a tidal wave of layoffs, an unexpected shift in strategy.

Often, it is not the event itself, but the lasting, less visible disruptions... miscommunication, uncertainty, or unaddressed anxiety... that threaten your organization’s greatest assets: your people.

Like the whales, our people are vulnerable not just to what they see above water, but to the forces that ripple through the culture below.

Most crises in business (or in life) are not seen until their aftershocks hit. The pressure builds invisibly; communication distorts; trusted guides seem lost. People may signal distress in subtle ways: missed cues, hesitations, silences.

Will you notice before your best people wash up on unfamiliar shores?

The Leader as Steward of the Deep

This is the leader’s charge: to sense the waves before they break, to listen beneath the noise, to recognize when the environment has changed... often long before anyone says a word.

Real leadership is forged after the earthquake. When confusion reigns, and the old ways of working have washed away, your willingness to create calm, restore trust, and gently guide your people back to deep water is what will set you apart.

Let the story of these whales move you, not as an observer, but as an advocate. Ask yourself:

- What rumblings are already shaking my team’s ocean?

- Am I listening for the signs of discomfort, confusion, exhaustion?

- How quickly do I respond, not just to the obvious crises, but to the subtle, silent distress signals?

In the end, the most dramatic lesson comes quietly: the greatest dangers are not always those we see, but those we feel, the vibrations beneath, the currents that can knock even the strongest off course.

As a leader, heed the call of the deep.

Chart your course with empathy.

See further.

Guide better.

For there are lives.... brilliant, capable, and worthy... trusting you to feel the tremors and lead them safely home.

If you’re reading this, you’re not just responsible for steering the ship, you’re accountable for the ecosystem.

Like the ocean, organizations thrive or falter based on factors both obvious and subtle.

~ Keri Laine

Keri Laine Executive Solutions (KLES)