Preparing for the Unexpected

Operational Resilience has become a major focal point for organizations. Join me as I talk with Fusion Risk Management CEO, Mike Campbell. Mike touches on: 1. Clarifies the confusion between organizational resilience and operations resilience, 2. The importance for organization's to focus on resilience. 3. Various components that make up operational resilience, 4. How an organization can begin to tear down silos (while building up resilience), 5. The new paradigm organization's face with employees working from home, 6. How the traditional 'everyone-back-in-the-office' approach may no longer work going forward, 7. How strong operational resilience can help organizations with decision-making, especially during disasters, crises, and incidents, when the demand for information goes up and the time to provide it goes down. A very enjoyable chat about operational resilience, with lots of insights for leaders. Don't miss it!

Despite what many have been saying, resilience isn't something you can simply state yo are or that an organization can initiate. I'm joined by researcher and author, Dr. Robert Sinclair, who talks about the personal characteristics that can be used to promote resilience. During out chat, Dr Sinclair touches on: 1. Defining resilience (it's more than you think), 2. Capacity for resilience and the Demonstration of resilience, 3. Stressors, 4. Characteristics of resilience, 5. Leadership and resilience, 6. Discuss the POWER model, 7. Organizational participation in creating resilience, 8. The dark side of resilience, 9. Tips for individuals about resilience...and more. Dr Sinclair provides some insight into resilience not many are covering. It's not something you buy off a shelf or simply implement - it's much more personal than that. Enjoy!

To face the scope and threats of the 21st century challenges, today's leaders must possess potent powers for logic, reason, discernment and strategic forecasting. Yet, they must also be empathic and therefore embodied, grounded and intuitive. (From book cover). I'm joined by transformational leadership expert and author or 'Leader to Healer', Nicholas Janni. This is a very inspirational discussion on leadership, and not one many will have considered before. Nicholas touches on: 1. Defining resilience, 2. Being vs Doing. 3. Leader as an Executor vs a Leader as a Healer, 4. Self-awareness, 5, Defining ones purpose (personal and as a group), 6, The importance of emotions, 7. Tips to begin making a transformative change...and more. Nicholas is very inspirational and offers some very interesting insights into how leaders can find answers to some of their challenges - during crises, disasters, and other situations - by looking inwards to make transformative change happen. You don't want to miss this episode. Enjoy!

Today I talk with globally recognized Crisis Management specialist, Regina Phelps. During a very enlightening discussion - intense and scary at times – We talk about: 1. A few comments about COVID being ‘over’ 2. What is a polycrisis? 3. Did 2012 predict today’s troubles? 4. Economic Risks & Impacts 5. Societal Risks & Impacts 6. Geopolitical Risks & Impacts 7. Evacuating Employees from troubled areas 8. Potential global and economic impacts if China attacks Taiwan 9. Expanding the BCM professionals focus As always, a very enlightening discussion with Regina. There are some insights here you do not want to miss. Enjoy!

Preparing for the Unexpected broadcasted live from the Continuity & Resilience Today (CRT) conference in Toronto, November 16 & 17, 2022. This episode captures interview segments we did with 3 conference speakers: 1. Kevin Newman (well-known journalist and anchor), 2. Chloe Demrovsky (President of the Disaster Recovery Institute International), 3. Brock Holowachuk (Past President of the Disaster Recovery Institute Canada). Enjoy!

I talk with recognized Business Continuity, Crisis Management, and Emergency Management expert, Vito Mangialardi, as we talk about Fit for Duty. Fit for Duty means that an individual is in a physical, mental, and emotional state that enables them to perform the essential tasks of their work assignment…even under adverse and stressful situations. Isn’t that something Business Continuity, Crisis Management, and Emergency Management personnel should be concerned with? We talk about: 1. ‘Fit for Duty’ defined, 2. Duty impairments, 3. Managing fatigue…when people are already fatigued, 4. Policy, 5. Helping people with issues, 6. Safety issues, 7. Leadership and when a leader isn’t quite right for the role, 8. Managing issues when people with no training or awareness try to manage a situation, 9. Hierarchical issues, 10. Discussing Fit for Duty with 3rd Parties and Vendors, 11. Tips to help embed ‘Fit for Duty’ in your organization. Vito brings to light some interesting perspectives and insights with regards to Fit of Duty, and the things we need to consider. Remember, for many individuals, what they do and how they do it can have an impact on the life and safety of people they work with or are trying to help. Enjoy!

On November 16 and 17, 2022, James Green and I co-hosted a live broadcast from the Continuity & Resilience Today (CRT) conference in Toronto. We were fortunate enough to interview a few guests and for this episode you can hear the conversation we had with Caoimhe Culleton and Regina Phelps. Lots of great information about COVID, business continuity, resilience testing, Lessons Learned (from Ireland), and hear how Regina likes to 'make 'em cry' when testing. You'll have to listen in to know that means - and it'll get you thinking about your security and/ore business continuity programs.

The success of Business Continuity, Risk Management, and Crisis Management, can be aided in part by having strong Supply Chain Management practices. I speak with Supply Chain and Business Continuity expert Kush Srivastava. We talk about: 1. Domains and Common Elements, 2. The opportunities to leverage from the various domains, 3. The congruence analyzed, 4. The rolling impact of Supply Chain Management, 5. How SCRM aids in better BCPs, Crisis Mgmt., and Response & Recovery, 6. Mapping the Supply Chain, 7. Becoming a preferred customer, 8. De-clustering, 9. Flexibility in the Supply Chain. It's an interesting discussion that helps us understand how these four areas can work together to contribute to resilience, and realize that Supply Chain Management can be a silent lifeline for the success of each program. Enjoy!

Many organizations face challenges when it comes to applying creating emotional resilience for crisis situations. I speak with a founding member of the UK Psychological Trauma Society, internationally published author, Dr. Liz Royle. Dr. Royle talks to us about: 1. People before 'the plan', 2. People and trauma, 3. Fears, 4. The 3 R's (Resistance, Resilience, Recovery), 5. Crisis Team membership, 6. 'The Ripple Effect', 7. Areas of Risk...and lots more. Dr Royle provides allot of insight into how we can create emotional resilience by creating and utilizing some innovative human recovery processes during crisis situations. Some may believe having a disaster response plan is enough, but there's a human aspect that doesn't seem to get enough attention. Dr. Royle sheds light on what's missing and how we can address it. Enjoy!

Handling communications during a crisis can be a challenge for most organizations. I'm joined by internationally recognized risk and crisis communications professional, Sheena Thomson. During our talk we touch on: 1. Identifying and defining a stakeholder, 2. Stakeholder management, 3. Preparing communications, 4. Using legal in communication, 5. Winning (or loosing) the social media war, 6. The spokesperson, 7. Do's and don'ts of communications, 8. Messaging (and staying on that message), and 9. Crisis communication tips. Sheena provides some great insights on how to develop, implement, and manage a successful crisis communications strategy - prior to a crisis and during a crisis. Don't miss what Sheena has to share. Enjoy!

During a crisis the media can be your friend or foe, and it comes down to your own actions that will determine which part media will play. I'm joined by established crisis management and crisis communications subject matter expert, Mark Harris. During Mark's talk, we touch on: 1. Defining media (it's more than it used to be...), 2. The spokesperson (who's good, bad, and who should be waiting in the wings), 3. Training, 4. Messaging, 5. How to get the media on your side, 6. How not to communicate with media, 8. Building a relationship with media, 7. Some key tips on dealing with the media...and much more. Mark gives some great insights on how to deal with the media to keep them on your side during times of crisis, when you need all the friends you can get during those challenging moments. Don't miss the great information Mark shares. Enjoy!

It's another episode to touch base with Regina Phelps about the latest on 'What's Next?' after the COVID pandemic. Regina touches on: 1. 5 Individual Changes (The decline of trust, Political divisions, and more...), 2. 5 Global Societal Changes (Food insecurity, Financial hardships, and more...), 3. The Future of Work, 4. Artificial Intelligence considerations for Continuity professionals...and more. This is a very insightful episode you don't want to miss. It may help you understand some of the challenges you, your organization, and/or your community if facing. Enjoy!

We plan for various crises and disasters, making plans to prepare and respond to such things as terrorism, but what we often forget are those that have been impacted terrorism. In the most personally gripping and heartfelt episode I've ever done, I'm joined by terrorism survivor and victim advocate, Ann Travers. Ann talks about her experiences of growing up in Northern Ireland during the Troubles and how it impacted - and still impacts - her today. 1. Defining terrorism, living in fear, The Troubles; ; 2. Ann's personal story of terrorism, the hurt, survival and lingering impacts; 3. Ann's Law, victim's rights, re-traumatization, and support. It's an episode that raises the question of why we prepare and respond to disasters, but we seem to fall short when it comes to caring for those living with the impacts of terrorism...or any disaster. Don't miss this episode! If you are a survivor of terrorism and want to talk to someone, you can find help at www.seff.org.uk Don't suffer alone!

Virtual or remote working is here to stay, whether anyone likes it or not. In many cases management and employees are seeing the situation from differing perspective, and not really talking about it with each other in a constructive meaningful manner. I talk with recognized risk management and business continuity expert, Andrew Ziegler, as we talk about the fear, the loathing, and confusion over working in - and with - the virtual office. Andrew touches on: 1. A LinkedIn poll he started that provided some surprising results, 2. Why leadership pushes to have people back in the office, 3. Why employees being hesitant and reluctant to head back to the office, 4. The misconceptions about productivity are wrong, 5. Addressing fear (real and perceived), 6, Empathy, and collaboration...and more. Don't miss this timely discussion with Andrew, as he provides some timely insights into the challenges of dealing with a virtual office - the new 'normal'. Enjoy!

As a result of COVID, there is allot more talk and interactions between teams - internally and externally - with regards to Business Continuity, Disaster Planning, and the like. But what doesn't seem to be talked about very much, if at all, is the customer experience, I speak with long-time BCM and customer experience specialist, Charlein Barni, about BCM and the customer experience. We talk about: 1. Defining what 'customer experience' means, 2. Defining exactly who is a customer (more than you might think), 3. Internal and external organizational views and interactions, 4. What org's sometime get wrong about the customer experience, 5. How important organizational culture is to the customer experience, 6. When an experience ends..., 7. Measuring engagement with customer experiences and how engagement is often misinterpreted, 8. The BCM lifecycle and what it contains, 9. The most important part of the BCM lifecycle when it comes to the customer experience, 10. Measuring customer experiences...and much, much more. It's obvious Charlein is passionate about BCM and the customer experience. Don't miss her insights as she talks about a topic not often broached in BCM. Enjoy!

Supply Chain Management (SCM) is a major topic amongst organizations and their leadership, but do they have an understanding of Supply Chain Security (SCS)? I talk with Supply Chain Security expert Andrew Owlett who provides some great insights into SCS. We talk about: 1. Defining Supply Chain Security vs Supply Chain Management, 2. Why the security of supply chains is important, 3. The security of physical and cyber suppliers and partners, 4. Ownership and the many parties that need to be involved, 5. Creating and validating 'controls' (mitigating activities), and the challenges that can be encountered, 6. Assessing vendor capabilities and building good relationships with them...and much more. Andrew sheds allot of light on an important topic. If you have concerns about your supply chain management and security, you don't want to miss Andrew's insights. Enjoy!

I talk with award-winning IT, Continuity, Resilience, Risk and Security professional and noted resilience expert, Modebola Olowu. Modebola talks about personal resilience and how we can cultivate a practice the will work effectively at home and in the workplace. We touch on subjects such as: 1. What is resilience and the difference between the workplace and home, 2. Characteristics of personal resilience? 3. The art of Kintsugi? (This is a great analogy for resilience and I urge everyone to go find your gold!!), 4. Cultivating Resilience, 5. The Me Strategy, 6. The Proactive Strategy, 7. The Community Strategy, 8. Crises and their Opportunities, and 9. Ways to identify opportunities in crisis (e.g., change your perspective, find the 'loophole' etc.). It's clear that Modebola is quite passionate about personal resilience, and it comes across during our discussion. With allot of resilience talk focusing on technology, processes, and systems, Modebola teaches us how to take a step back and look at ourselves...our gold. Enjoy!

Some might believe that banking and Business Continuity Management Systems (BCMS) would be the same around the globe. Though parts of that might be true, other aspects, perspectives, and methodologies aren't always the same. I'm joined by award winning BCM expert Khaled Altawily, who talks about BCM in the banking sector of Saudi Arabia. During the episode, we talk about: 1. Risk tools in Business Continuity Management Systems (BCMS), 2. Risk scales and terminology, 3. Risk and risk Controls, 4. Internal and external partners, 5. The overlap between BCM and various control functions, 6. The maturity of BCMS in the Saudi Arabian banking sector, 7. The challenges with BCM post-COVID19 (Thought on the other side of the world, you'll find that many of the challenges sound familiar.)...and more. Khaled does a great job of shining the light on the banking sector in Saudi Arabia, and how it has implemented a successful BCM methodology, especially when he talks about the maturity levels set for the sector. Don't miss Khaled's insights. Enjoy!

The workspace is changing, and the pandemic put that change into 'hear gear'. I talk with recognized expert in the area of Group and Team Coaching, and author or Reconnecting Workspaces, Jennifer J. Britton. We talk about: 1. The differing roles of a leader and team member, 2. Groups vs teams, 3. Company culture and how it influences teams etc. (you'll notice I get really into this topic), 4. The TRIAD of Trust, Safety, and Connection, and how it impacts the workspace, 5. Leadership, 6. Conflict and its causes (Yes, it still happens in the virtual world), 7. How to address conflict. Jennifer provides some insights on a very timely and current subject, which is impacted people around the globe. With so many people working remotely it's necessary for us to reconnect our workspaces, and Jennifer does a great job of helping to understand some of the ways we can do this right...and what might be causing us to look at it incorrectly. Enjoy!

To improve and move forward, we have to learn from our mistakes. All too often, we don’t learn from the lessons as they present themselves. I speak with internationally recognized Crisis Management, Emergency Management, and Busine Continuity expert, Christine Miller about Learning Management. Chris offers allot of helpful information including: 1. How to plan for a lesson learned workshop/meeting, 2. Participants (it’s more than you might think), 3. Follow-up, 4. Strong – and courageous – leadership, 5. What the acronym O.I.L.L. means and how it helps Lessons Learned, 6. Successes with O.I.L.L. in Eswatini, 7. Tips for starting a Lessons Learned initiative, 8. Who benefits from OILL and Lessons Learned in Emergency Management. Chris shares allot of information, including allot of her own personal work experiences. Many talk about Lessons Learned, but Chris goes a little bit deeper into the subject than most. Enjoy!