Managing a crisis is one of the most difficult situations a business leader will confront. Crises are generally characterised by rapidly developing, unpredictable situations within ambiguous and often highly emotional information environments. They can range in scope and impact from sensitive, reputational issues all the way through to global pandemics, all of which hold potentially disastrous consequences, both for individuals and the wider organisation. Clearly, it is too late to begin thinking about a system for managing crises after they have already struck. This course is designed to provide leaders across all sectors with a framework for understanding the nature of crisis and issues management, as well as the ability to lead through this complexity in order to return to business-as-usual arrangements. The course will outline crisis-management workflows that can structure ensure business continuity, reduce financial and legal liability and preserve (or even enhance) the organisation’s image and reputation. Working collaboratively in a flattened and focused crisis-management environment, communicating across complex stakeholder groups and dealing with the potential reputational impacts associated with rapidly emerging social and traditional media stories are all core to effective crisis management. High-profile contemporary case studies will be used throughout the course to contextualise and amplify lessons learned. While the focus of the course is on preparing leaders to operate effectively in times of crisis, the teachings delivered within this course will be equally applicable in a business-as-usual context. Indeed, many organisations view crisis and issues management training as an excellent ‘leadership laboratory’ which, in a very short period of time, can provide participants with exposure to critical skills such as developing situational awareness, verifying and qualifying disparate information, decision-making, leadership presence and generating tempo through concurrent activity and clear prioritisation of tasks. All of these skills are also extremely beneficial in a day-to-day leadership context.

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