Why We Must Stay Optimistic During Setbacks

The Status Quo of Crisis Preparedness Puts You at a Disadvantage—and It’s Time For That To Change.

Over the last couple of years, I’ve found myself increasingly frustrated with my industry, the crisis management profession. To put my frustration simply, the status quo of crisis preparedness and crisis management no longer suffices and, as a result, does a disservice to professionals, organizations and society.

COVID-19 is a horrific example of how unfortunately true this statement is. For the organizations that had a traditional “crisis management plan” (status quo) at the start of 2020, how well did it truly serve them? It didn’t. Instead, we watched—any many experienced first-hand—as good businesses and great professionals suffered immensely due to a lack of effective crisis preparedness.

Meanwhile, the organizations that were intrinsically crisis ready prior to COVID-19 had an advantage. I know this, because my clients are amongst them.

This meant that when COVID began to impact their country and/or their business, as their neighbors, competitors and peers were left scrambling and fearful, those who had worked to ingrain a Crisis Ready® Culture (elevated Status Quo of Crisis) had a strategic advantage in getting ahead of the situation to the most extent possible at the time.

The Status Quo of Crisis

Preparedness No Longer Suffices and Needs to be Elevated.

Like it or not, we’ve entered into an era of increased challenge and risk. The long-accepted approach of creating a stagnant plan that sits on a shelf somewhere does little to actually serve when it’s needed most and will continue to leave organizations at a disadvantage.

Instead, true resilience requires a culture of readiness that leads with the right mindset, empowers the right skillsets, and ensures the right real-time capabilities—and this cultural approach to resilience is going to be more and more needed as the months and years roll forward.

The BIG Mission: To Create a Status Quo of Crisis Resilient World

As I’ve helped dozens of organizations engrain Crisis Ready® Cultures over the years, I’ve come to the realization that if every organization, if every leader, were Crisis Ready to what it means to me to be Crisis Ready, that we would live in a kinder, safer, more balanced world.

This is the world that I’m determined to raise and leave my future children in. This is the world that I believe we all deserve and we all play a role in achieving.

So, for the last couple of years, I’ve spent a lot of time thinking through our current realities and asking myself, “if I want to create a crisis ready world, how do I do that?”

The Crisis Ready Institute is the manifestation of my answer to this question.

About the Crisis Ready Institute

The Crisis Ready Institute is a public benefit corporation with a massive mission to elevate Status Quo of Crisis and create a crisis resilient world.

What I’ve learned over the years is that crisis readiness is a tangible, learnable skill that is not currently taught. The Crisis Ready Institute is changing this. We exist to educate, teach, empower and support today’s professionals in developing and honing the skillsets required to transform real-time challenges—of which this world has many—into real-time opportunities.

And we’re kicking things off with a program that does precisely this: The Crisis Ready Coaching Program.

Now, more than ever, it is time to empower today’s professionals, helping them do right by the stakeholders and communities they serve and, in the process, strengthening their business’s resilience to thrive through these challenging times.

It’s a massive mission and it’s needed to change the Status Quo of Crisis. I won’t lie, embarking upon this journey is both exhilarating and frightening, and I’m blessed to be surrounded by a phenomenal team of driven and talented leaders, along with partner organizations, all of whom who believe in and have chosen to embark upon this journey with me—with us.

If you’d like to learn more about the Crisis Ready Institute, our mission and the Status Quo of Crisis Ready Coaching Program, I invite you to do so by clicking here. I also invite you to share your thoughts and perspectives, and if you’d like to be a part of this journey with us, in any capacity, I absolutely would love to hear from you!

To your and the world’s resilience,

Melissa Agnes

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