These are the moments you find out who the leaders are in your firm: leaders step up and followers step back.

Stepping up to a crisis means taking responsibility and driving to action. That is risky, because you might get it wrong. It is also rewarding because this is when power visibly flows to whoever takes control. Crises accelerate your career as a leader: you succeed fast or you fail fast.

Followers avoid taking risk: they step back into the shadows and wait to see which way the wind blows. They might offer ‘helpful' advice or analysis. The advice may be useless, but it is risk free. If the advice is followed then the adviser can claim credit for the ensuing success, and blame failure on the inability of others to follow advice properly. And if the advice is not followed, followers can always claim the outcome would have been better if their advice had been taken. Not surprisingly, most people turn out to be advice giving followers. This creates a huge vacuum for someone to step up and take control. This is your chance to lead.

Here are five ways you can use crises to accelerate your leadership career to success, not failure.

Step Up. Do not run away from the crisis, because crises rarely get better by themselves. They normally get worse. When the crisis starts no one is quite sure what to do or who should do it; most people want to avoid the risk and effort of taking control. This is when the real leaders step up. Setting an example is as simple as suggesting a solution and being ready to take it forward.

Get help. Lone heroes save the world in the movies, but not in real life. Leadership is a team sport. So get help, get support, and get resources. Build a coalition of the willing to make change happen. This is a good time to not listen to the doom mongers: don't waste your time on persuading them. Focus on those who are willing and able to make a positive effort. Trying to do it all yourself is a recipe for stress, late nights, overwork and failure. Learn to trust your colleagues: despite appearances they are not all mendacious, incompetent idlers. Most of them will be professionals who want to do a good job and will rise to the challenge when given direction and support.

Don't hide the truth. People fear uncertainty even more than they fear reality. Facts are friendly, even if they are uncomfortable. Have the courage to be open and share the situation fully and openly. The truth will trigger action and support which you can harness. 

Drive to action, any action. Analysis is easy displacement activity. Action is hard and risky. People need to be jolted out of inactivity. The first step might be very simple and basic, like making some phone calls. It might even be the wrong first step, but that does not matter: once you have momentum you can correct course. If you have no momentum, no action then nothing happens and the crisis will become a drama over which you have no control. Leave the post mortem until after the event and make it positive. Focus on what went well, so that you can learn from success. This learning is your personal success recipe which will help you deal with future crises even better. And instead of asking "what went wrong" ask "even better if....". Keep the focus on learning and improving.

Act the part. Long after the crisis is over, no one will remember exactly who did what. Everyone will claim credit for doing the right things and distance themselves from the missteps. But if they do not remember what you did, they will remember what you were like. If you were angry, blaming and in a panic, you will be remembered for having a bad crisis, even if you somehow managed to save the day, in your version of events. If you were seen to be positive, constructive, calm and action focused, you will be remembered for having had a good crisis. All leaders learn to wear the mask of leadership, and this is most important when you are feeling in a bad way: your little cloud of gloom can spread like a major depression across your office. As a leader you are a peddler of hope, certainty and clarity especially in a crisis where there appears to be no hope, certainty or clarity.

Finally, when it is all over be generous in your praise. After winning the war, win the peace.  Let your team see crises are their chance to shine, not hide. If you do all this, you can turn any crisis into an opportunity.

Jo Owen is a social entrepreneur, Founder of Teach First and author of Resilience - 10 habits to thrive in life and work