The fires in the Los Angeles area over the last couple of weeks have been absolutely devastating.

As a leader, one of your roles is to address the impact of various disasters for your organization. So you create backup plans, for computers, equipment, and people. It’s not fun, but necessary to keep things humming as best you can.

But the deeper impact is what happens inside your employees.

Imagine that you have one person whose house burns down or is swept away in a flood. You’ll all pull together to give the family whatever physical and emotional support they need, right? Just because you’re human and it’s the right thing to do.

But suppose that your building is destroyed, along with the homes of half your employees. That’s what happens in these kinds of devastating situations, or worse.

The top priority becomes taking care of the people. You give everyone plenty of room for self-care, along with their families and friends. For weeks, months, even years.

Your organization may or may not continue to exist. Perhaps its mission is no longer relevant or might better be replaced by something else. Yes, you’ll grieve, as will everyone.

But at some point you’ll have to move on to the next stage and take action. That’s where we need true leaders, stepping up to the unimaginable challenges ahead. Would you want to be one of them?