Board 911
Emergency
CEO Replacement
Every board should have an emergency replacement plan, but most do not. For those that do have a plan, it often consists of a board member stepping in as interim CEO while a search is conducted. While better than nothing, it still does not address the angst that investors, employees, customers, and suppliers will feel, nor does it consider the decisions that will likely suffer.
We can:
- Develop an emergency plan that includes communication to all relevant parties.
- Aid in the selection of a replacement.
- Evaluate risks associated with this emergency
- Develop the key messages that state the facts, express sorrow if appropriate, and name the new CEO.
- Advise the new CEO.
Crisis Prevention:
Heed the Early Warning Signs
Where there’s smoke, there’s usually a fire, there was a fire, or one is about to start. Sometimes the fire immediately rages out of control, requiring copious amounts of water to douse it, the involvement of trained firefighters, and loss of resources. At other times, the embers will glow, and leaders will fail to notice them until they have ignited into a full-fledged inferno.
When crises start small, leaders often fail to recognize the threat. By the time they figure it out, the crisis has grown to the point that containing it becomes impossible. The warning signals will take many forms, depending on the nature of your business, but if they’re alert to them, directors will recognize problems before they become disasters.
We can help you avert a crisis when you see these kinds of things:
- Persistent customer complaints
- Persistent employee complaints
- A preponderance of rumors
- High potentials leaving the organization
- No one ready for promotion
- Significant changes in technology
- Internal or external resistance to innovation
Organizational Crisis
Boards don’t seek or welcome crisis, yet by its very serendipitous nature, crisis offers an inestimable gift to leaders who rise to the challenge and reinvent themselves and their organizations.
Exceptional directors know how to leverage their power and position to be something more than powerful and in charge. They take responsibility and build confidence. They control what they can control and cope with the rest - and sometimes they need help doing that.
The nature of your business will determine the risks you will face, but some universal perils exist:
- Natural disasters
- Product tampering
- Accidents
- Technical breakdowns
- Economic changes
- Data breaches
These kinds of high-stakes situations can quickly go from bad news to full-blown catastrophes that companies will struggle to recover from.
We can help you address them quickly, honestly, and responsibly in these ways:
- Rapidly making information available to those affected or harmed
- Framing the seriousness of the event without minimizing it
- Communicating the event to stakeholders, employees, and customers
- Formulating a problem-solving strategy
- Managing public relations messages
- Mending relationships that have been affected
- Handling the media
- Formulating post-crisis plans
Linda is a remarkable sounding board on a wide range of business and employee issues. She has helped me better structure the way I approach management which in turn has given me greater confidence in making the big decisions.
Scott Amsbaugh, General Manager, Brooks Instrument - Group President at ITW Construction Products
