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Crisis Leadership: How to lead in times of crisis, threat and uncertainty
Anyone in a leadership position today knows that we live in uncertain times, and disaster can strike any business, at any time, usually without warning. From the collapse of Lehman Brothers and the oil disaster of Deepwater Horizon, to Malaysia Airlines' loss of two planes, corporations are coming to realize that the impossible can happen all too easily. Public institutions, too, face a range of threats--from global recession, resurgent terrorism, and a stream of appalling natural disasters. For leaders in such organizations, these crisis situations can present both opportunities and threats. How they lead their companies through such challenging times will propel their careers to new heights-–or destroy them completely.
Crisis Leadership examines the challenges faced by leaders at each stage of the crisis "lifecycle," from the instant they learn of the crisis, through to moments of critical decision-making and the final tumultuous days. Featuring interviews with General Stanley McChrystal, who was the top Commander of American forces in Afghanistan, and Sir Mervyn King, ex-Governor of the Bank of England, the book offers a unique insight into the lessons learned by people in the most challenging of situations, such as Malaysia Airlines (MH17 and MH370, plus the ensuing bankruptcy), Thomas Cook (Corfu deaths), Toyota (Prius recalls), HSBC (tax avoidance and US subsidiary issues), World Health Organisation (the Ebola and Zika outbreaks), and FIFA (corruption scandal).
Blended with operational guidance from the author's extensive experience in crisis management, Tim Johnson offers an overview of the crisis "lifecycle" to ensure that readers will come away from this book with a honed understanding of the critical nature of each key stage.
Crisis Leadership examines the challenges faced by leaders at each stage of the crisis "lifecycle," from the instant they learn of the crisis, through to moments of critical decision-making and the final tumultuous days. Featuring interviews with General Stanley McChrystal, who was the top Commander of American forces in Afghanistan, and Sir Mervyn King, ex-Governor of the Bank of England, the book offers a unique insight into the lessons learned by people in the most challenging of situations, such as Malaysia Airlines (MH17 and MH370, plus the ensuing bankruptcy), Thomas Cook (Corfu deaths), Toyota (Prius recalls), HSBC (tax avoidance and US subsidiary issues), World Health Organisation (the Ebola and Zika outbreaks), and FIFA (corruption scandal).
Blended with operational guidance from the author's extensive experience in crisis management, Tim Johnson offers an overview of the crisis "lifecycle" to ensure that readers will come away from this book with a honed understanding of the critical nature of each key stage.
- GenresLeadership
272 pages, Hardcover
Published January 16, 2018
8 people are currently reading
39 people want to read
About the author
Tim Johnson
185 books6 followersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
September 8, 2019
This had some good information but was skewed heavily to a corporate environment. It was all presented in a very dry textbook way. Plus I don’t believe he quoted any female leaders in any of his examples.
December 31, 2021
I’m not sure where I heard about this book. I thought it was a book about “general” leadership, which is a topic of interest to me. In fact, they really do mean “crisis” leadership; think 9/11, oil spills, hurricane devastation, financial meltdown, or Three Mile Island, and perhaps even pandemic... I pushed myself through ¾ of the book. I believe that it does have some useful information for leaders during such crises. Things like being explicitly clear about meeting dates/times and punctuality (seems these should be givens, but apparently not). There was discussion of dealing with the media, which seemed quite reasonable advice, even important for those in such positions. I kept thinking about many organization leaders during this past year, who I’d say were crisis leaders: politicians, universities, health care settings (especially!), and so forth.
Of note was that 80% of conflict in teams were due to unclear goals. Of the remaining 20%, 80% of those were due to unclear roles and responsibilities. Only 1% was due to interpersonal conflict. And from a crisis management perspective, those who were leaders in financial positions during the 2008 financial crisis who had studied the depression and knew a lot about how that worked, or didn't work, impacted greatly their approach in 2008, which overall mitigated the effect of that particular crisis. i.e., history can teach.
What this book did not have, was an editor who knew what they were doing. There were misspelled words, words missing grammatically, periods misplaced, etc. I started writing some down, thinking there were just a few and I might try to send the information to the publisher, but realized there was an error about every 2 pages; it was pathetic. I’ve never read any kind of book, fiction or non-fiction, which had errors of this magnitude. I stopped reading because the errors drove me nuts, and I decided that putting up with them wasn’t worth it since the topic wasn’t really what I had thought. Additionally, the writing style was a bit odd, using bullet lists with odd lead-ins. Generally, not pleasant to read.
IF you are in a position of crisis leadership, you might find it useful to peruse. If not, ignore.
Of note was that 80% of conflict in teams were due to unclear goals. Of the remaining 20%, 80% of those were due to unclear roles and responsibilities. Only 1% was due to interpersonal conflict. And from a crisis management perspective, those who were leaders in financial positions during the 2008 financial crisis who had studied the depression and knew a lot about how that worked, or didn't work, impacted greatly their approach in 2008, which overall mitigated the effect of that particular crisis. i.e., history can teach.
What this book did not have, was an editor who knew what they were doing. There were misspelled words, words missing grammatically, periods misplaced, etc. I started writing some down, thinking there were just a few and I might try to send the information to the publisher, but realized there was an error about every 2 pages; it was pathetic. I’ve never read any kind of book, fiction or non-fiction, which had errors of this magnitude. I stopped reading because the errors drove me nuts, and I decided that putting up with them wasn’t worth it since the topic wasn’t really what I had thought. Additionally, the writing style was a bit odd, using bullet lists with odd lead-ins. Generally, not pleasant to read.
IF you are in a position of crisis leadership, you might find it useful to peruse. If not, ignore.
March 5, 2022
Tim Johnson provides a detailed description and a set of academic guidelines in this study elaborating on how to lead in a crisis.
Now of course even Tim is aware that a book is no substitute for real life practical experience irrespective of grimness. This is something he constantly alludes to time and time again.
As a leader myself I believe that while there is value to this book, some of the points could have been delivered more effectively through real life examples. Overall, a good starting level guide.
Now of course even Tim is aware that a book is no substitute for real life practical experience irrespective of grimness. This is something he constantly alludes to time and time again.
As a leader myself I believe that while there is value to this book, some of the points could have been delivered more effectively through real life examples. Overall, a good starting level guide.
September 11, 2018
Its a very good book and it not only applicable for those involved in business but also in all other spheres of life.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews