When the going gets tough, the tough make things simple. During the Great Crash of 1987--still the biggest one day drop in stock market history--our stock in Charles Schwab Corp. dropped 70% in a day. This seemed like a perfect time to accept the job of chief communications officer!

As with the most recent Economic Crisis, the incident resulted in a serious loss of confidence from customers. Investors were panicked, and distrustful.

The first instinct of many companies is to reduce frank dialogue with customers and instead ramp up their features in an effort to attract attention from nervous consumers. But Chuck Schwab did the opposite: he reached out with frank conversation and focused on making services easier, more accessible and simple than ever before.

As a dyslexic, Chuck constantly coped by making complicated things simpler. And when a customer is already already confused and frightened, more sophistication only adds to their frustration. Simplification and added clarity, on the other hand, give people a feeling of confidence. When people feel confident that they understand what's happening with their money, they trust you.

Check out my friend Jonathan Hornby's new book, Radical Action for Radical Times. It redefines what it means to be a leader in the face of extraordinary challenges and is an inspiring recipe for success in the depths of the greatest cycle in history. It features some of my experiences working at Charles Schwab, too.