Leadership in a crisis is not about titles. It is about choices.
Lessons from two decades of search and rescue and humanitarian response, from the collapsed buildings of Port-au-Prince to the Ebola outbreak in West Africa. A practical guide to leading yourself and your team when the ground gives way, and to building the habits that hold before it does.
The response is decided long before the crisis arrives
Less than a day after the 2010 Haiti earthquake, Gísli was leading Iceland’s urban search and rescue team into one of the most chaotic environments anyone can face. The Crisis Leader follows that response and draws out the principles that separate leaders who hold under pressure from those who do not.
First published in 2013 and adopted by universities as a course text on crisis leadership, the book has been revised for a changed world. New chapters address cultural intelligence, the digital leader in crisis, and ethics under pressure, along with the role of mid-level managers and leaders who carry responsibility without a title.
Have the clarity to act when others hesitate, the humility to listen when others shout, and the courage to carry responsibility even when outcomes are uncertain.
Seven stages of crisis leadership
Thirty-two chapters in seven sections, following a leader from preparation through the first hours of a crisis to the work of moving on.
- Section 1A Crisis LeaderWhat a crisis is, and what leadership means inside one.
- Section 2Becoming a LeaderCharacter, values, and the preparation that comes first.
- Section 3Building ResiliencePlanning, exercising, and leaders at every level.
- Section 4When Crisis StrikesThe first reaction, keeping calm, and staying grounded.
- Section 5Decision Making in ChaosInformation, uncertainty, ethics, and failure.
- Section 6Team Dynamics in a CrisisEmpowerment, morale, and stress.
- Section 7After the CrisisCelebrating work well done, honest review, and moving on.
Built for practice and for the classroom
- Assignments in every chapter for personal reflection or course use
- Expanded real-world cases from humanitarian response and organizational crises
- New material on cultural intelligence, digital crisis leadership, and ethics under pressure
- Guidance for mid-level managers and leaders without formal authority
- Executives and boards facing disruption
- Public officials and emergency managers
- Humanitarian and non-profit leaders
- Instructors and students of crisis and emergency management
For instructors
The Crisis Leader is used as a course text in crisis and emergency management programs. Instructors can request an examination copy and the chapter assignments for classroom use.
Your request goes to requests@gislio.com and is answered personally.
Gísli Rafn Ólafsson
For three decades Gísli has worked where technology meets pressure: at Microsoft, leading emergency response for NetHope through the Ebola outbreak and the Syrian refugee crisis, leading Iceland’s urban search and rescue team in Haiti, as a member and Deputy Speaker of Iceland’s parliament, and as Secretary General of the Icelandic Red Cross.
He is CEO of Gridland Consulting and advises governments, enterprises, and non-profit organizations on artificial intelligence and leadership. He volunteered in Icelandic search and rescue for almost twenty years and served with the United Nations Disaster Assessment and Coordination team.
Press kit and review copies
The press kit contains the jacket copy, a print-resolution cover, author bios in three lengths, author photographs, and a one-page fact sheet. Review copies are available on request for credentialed reviewers, journalists, and podcast hosts.
