What the Boss Really Should Do in a Crisis


Written by Phil on February 5, 2009 in Crisis Management and Crisis Communication.

When it comes to readiness and crisis response preparation, there must be more complaining about bosses being burdens and barriers than any other topic.  There are two principal reasons for this complaining and whining.  First, it is true.  A large number of bosses actively avoid participating in disaster, crisis, and business recovery exercises.  Those who put these exercises on tend to take this approach by organizational leadership as a personal insult.  If you stand back for a moment and think about how most drills and exercises are conducted, their very nature is contrary to how operating executives learn, teach, and live, and how they measure their own success and need to succeed.

Want the Boss to Participate, to Behave During Crisis?  Have a Plan

What the Boss Really Should Do in a Crisis
by James E. Lukaszewski, ABC, APR, Fellow PRSA
One of the more damaging weaknesses in crisis response is undefined roles and assignments for top management. This critical gap in planning results in the mismanagement of crisis response efforts and occurs too frequently in the plans, responses and scenarios I review with clients. In the course of directing a client’s crisis response, analyzing past reactions or developing powerful response strategies, it’s clear that prompt, effective crisis response depends on  aving five essential responsibilities carefully spelled out for top executives:

  1. Assert the moral authority expected of ethical leadership.
  2. Take responsibility for the care of victims.
  3. Set the appropriate tone for the organizational response.
  4. Set the organization’s voice.
  5. Lead at every level

Click here to read Casting Your Crisis Plan:  Five Roles You Cannot Leave Unassigned in Your Crisis Plan, by James E. Lukaszewski, ABC, APR, Fellow PRSA.

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James E. Lukaszewski, ABC, APR, Fellow PRSA, CCEP, is a crisis response expert with an international reputation. He advises senior leadership and guides staff functions in the planning, installation, testing, and actual response circumstance of crises and disaster. His new book, Why Should the Boss Listen to You? The Seven Disciplines of the Trusted Strategic Advisor, (Jossey Bass 2008) is in bookstores and available from www.barnesandnoble.com and www.amazon.com. His Web site, www.e911.com, is a content-rich crisis management teaching site. E-mail him at crisisguru@e911.com.

Jim is author of the Executive Action(c) series, including Crisis Communication Planning Strategies.

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