Crisis Management: Master the Skills to Prevent Disasters (Harvard Business Essentials) [Paperback]

This is one of the volumes in the Harvard Business Essentials Series. Each offers authoritative answers to the most important questions concerning its specific subject. The material in this book is drawn from a variety of sources which include the Harvard Business School Press and the Harvard Business Review as well as Harvard ManageMentor®, an online service. I strongly recommend the official Harvard Business Essentials Web site (www.elearning.hbsp.org/businesstools) that offers free interactive versions of tools, checklists, and worksheets cited in this book and other books in the Essentials series. Each volume is indeed "a highly practical resource for readers with all levels of experience." And each is by intent and in execution solution-oriented. Although I think those who have only recently embarked on a business career will derive the greatest benefit, the material is well worth a periodic review by senior-level executives.

Credit Richard Luecke with pulling together a wealth of information and counsel from various sources. He is also the author of several other books in the Essentials series. In this instance, he was assisted by a subject advisor, Larry Barton, who is president of the American College. Together, they have carefully organized the material as follows. First, they explain why power is necessary in organizations "even though our society distrusts power and those who seek it." Next, they examine the sources of power. Then they explain why power is realized only through some form of expression. In Chapter 4, they examine influence in sharper focus, illustrating three specific tactics that any manager can use. Then in the next two chapters, Luecke and Reardon shift their attention to the concept of persuasion. They identify the four elements of persuasion and discuss how various audiences and people with diverse decision-making styles are receptive ("susceptible") to different forms of persuasion. Then in Chapter 6, they explain how to appeal both to the mind (with logic and/or evidence) and the to heart (by anchoring the given proposition in a human context). Hence the importance of compelling details, vivid images, similes, metaphors, analogies, and especially stories achieve resonance with an audience.

In Chapter 7, Luecke and Reardon provide some excellent suggestions to increase and enhance the impact of a formal presentation. "It suggests a presentation structure and a number of rhetorical devices perfected by the ancient Greeks. It also explains the various learning styles used by people and explains the importance of adapting each formal presentation to the needs, interests, and temperament of the given audience.

I also appreciate the three appendices provided. "In Leading When You're Not the Boss," Luecke and Reardon offer useful tips on how to be productive and effective in situations in which (usually lower-level managers) are expected to lead but have no formal power or authority to do so. Appendix B includes two forms by which to assess an audience and to assess one's own ability to persuade others. (Please check out Figures B-1 and B-2 on pages 135-139.) In the third appendix, Luecke and Reardon offer seven "Rules" to follow when preparing visuals for presentations that will have maximum impact.

Obviously, it is in an organization's best interests to formulate comprehensive contingency plans and then sustain preventive maintenance. However, there are developments and their consequences that, when they occur, create unforeseen crises to which organizations must respond. These are the situations in which organizations and their leaders define themselves, for better or worse. Hence the importance of information sources which can guide and inform not only contingency planning and preventive maintenance but also crisis response. Their value is even greater when a serious crisis occurs.

Those who share my high regard for this volume are urged to check out other volumes in the Essentials series (notably Managing Change and Transition) and Harvard Business Review on Crisis Management as well as Steven Fink's Crisis Management: Planning for the Inevitable and Eric Dezenhall and John Weber's Damage Control: Why Everything You Know About Crisis Management Is Wrong. Also, Jeffrey Pfeffer's What Were They Thinking?, Dean Spitzer's Transforming Performance Measurement, Ram Charan's Know-How, Mike Green's Change Management Masterclass, and Enterprise Architecture As Strategy co-authored by Jeanne W. Ross, Peter Weill, and David Robertson.

Be prepared. One day the company you own or help manage may face a severe crisis. Inexplicably, one of your most popular products suddenly proves lethally hazardous. Your accountant is frog-marched in handcuffs to the nearest slammer for embezzlement. Your plant in Malaysia blows up, injuring scores of locals. A tornado flattens your major warehouse complex and the surrounding town. Quick: What do you do? The best time to handle a corporate crisis is before it begins. First, assess the primary risks your company faces, then develop comprehensive contingency plans to face these potential crises. This superb book from the expert, lucid Harvard Business Essentials series provides a proven, step-by-step approach your company can use to plan for and deal with any corporate crisis. We strongly recommend this important guide to crisis planning and management. Its insightful analysis is well organized, clearly written and firmly supported with compelling case histories.

Im going to keep this short, if your looking at the area of crisis management this is a good book to get, well done and has great info within.