Blindsided: A Manager's Guide to Crisis Leadership

About the Course:

This course provides a comprehensive guide to workplace crisis management response and planning. Blythe walks you through images of crisis in the workplace, and shows you why having a detailed crisis management plan is so imperative in order to be an effective leader during a time of crisis. From the point of first learning of a crisis in your company, to de-escalating your crisis response, Blythe guides you every step of the way. Over the course of reading Blindsided, you will learn how to create and utilize a Crisis Command Center (CCC), the three levels of Crisis Action Teams (CAT) and the roles each play in managing a crisis, common crisis management problems, and how to prepare a crisis plan to avoid being blindsided.

Publication Date:

2nd Edition, 2014

Author

Bruce T. Blythe

About the Author:

Bruce Blythe is the CEO of Crisis Management International, Inc., a worldwide organization of crisis management specialists, business continuity planners, and former FBI and Secret Service agents. He has worked with hundreds of companies in crisis prevention, preparedness and response. He has served as a consultant to the FBI on terrorism and workplace violence.

Blythe and CMI offered onsite crisis consultations to more than 200 companies in the aftermath of the September 11 terrorist attacks, as well as for the 1993 World Trade Center bombing, the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing, Hurricanes Andrew and Katrina in 1992 and 2005, corporate and commercial air crashes, an Ecuadorian jungle rescue of kidnap and ransom hostages 2001,a Coca Cola truck/bus crash in Texas that killed 23 school children in 1989, earthquakes in Los Angeles and San Francisco, and multiple workplace shootings.

Bruce Blythe has made repeated appearances on NBC’s Today Show, multiple CNN programs, ABC’s 20/20, CBS’s 48 Hours, CNBC, NPR, national talk shows and many others. Fast Company Magazine published a cover-story article about Blythe and CMI following their response to 9/11 in NYC. He has been provided the commentary in notable publications, such as the Wall Street Journal, Newsweek, BusinessWeek, Smart Money, New Yorker and USA Today.

He is the author of Blindsided: A Manager’s Guide to Catastrophic Incidents in the Workplace, August 2002, published by Portfolio, an imprint of Penguin Putnam, NYC, on corporate crisis preparedness and response. The book, now in its second printing, is available for purchase through Crisis Management International, Inc.

Catalyst Magazine awarded him “Catalyst of the Year 2002”, which recognized him for leadership in industry innovations, effective management and excellence in business.

Bruce Blythe has been a keynote presenter to over 200 national and international conventions and conferences, on subjects related to crisis leadership, workplace violence, terrorism, crisis preparedness, business continuity, defending Posttraumatic Stress Disorder claims, the negligent failure to plan, and corporate crisis response.

Recommended For:

This course is recommended for health care professionals, especially psychologists, counselors and social workers who seek knowledge about strategies for crisis management in the workplace. It is appropriate for an introductory to advanced level of participants’ knowledge.

Course Objectives:

1. Utilize focused imagery to anticipate immediate and long term impacts of a crisis

2. Incorporate the Five Guiding Principles of Crisis Leadership into their crisis response

3. Demonstrate how to identify what core assets are at risk in a crisis and how to protect them

4. Create and utilize a Crisis Command Center during a crisis

5. Create and utilize three-tiered Crisis Action Teams during a crisis response

6. Follow the six phases of managing a crisis

7. Demonstrate when and how to de-escalate a crisis response

8. Create a crisis plan that incorporates a Crisis Planning Committee, analysis of foreseeable risks, procedures and controls to minimize risks, and how to activate crisis teams

9. Conduct crisis response exercises

10. Monitor your crisis plan, training, and exercises to keep their crisis preparedness up-to-date and functional