Crisis Leadership Now: A Real-World Guide to Preparing for Threats, Disaster, Sabotage, and Scandal

A guide for senior and mid-level managers. It explores crises from the death of 3,000 people at the Union Carbide plant in Bhopal, India, to storm conditions that almost destroyed jetBlue. It shares lessons in communicating with employees, shareholders, the media, and regulators. It details how successful companies embed crisis management.

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Why do some managers shine during a high-level crisis while others stumble? Those who have an action plan in place are the ones who can react quickly, manage rumors, and respond to victims and stakeholders sincerely and adequately while keeping their organization afloat.

Leading crisis management expert Laurence Barton has spent more than two decades consulting with top companies on how to anticipate and respond to workplace threats and tragedies. In Crisis Leadership Now he offers concrete solutions for managing disruptive events-from industrial accidents and acts of violence to embezzlement, product recalls, and terrorism. Barton takes you through his journey of advising senior executives on crisis events and examines:



The characteristics that define a true crisisProven strategies to help you understand andrespond to early warning signalsWays to mitigate threatening situationsHow to effectively communicate your decisionsin a timely manner to employees, shareholders,customers, and other constituencies
In this forward-looking guide, Barton applies his corporate insider's insight to numerous case studies, demonstrating how such catastrophes happen to real companies and real people every day. These studies form a framework for building crisis management thinking into your company's strategic toolbox. Anticipating all forms of trouble, advising senior management and boards of directors about potential events, and devising a business recovery plan will allow your organization to rebound should tragedy strike.

Barton has also created an indispensable sample crisis management plan, and includes detailed templates for addressing a wide spectrum of incidents and threats. Arming you with an arsenal of strategies, tools, and know-how, Crisis Leadership Now ensures that your company's leaders will demonstrate confidence and implement solutions in the midst of chaos.