Why Crisis Leaders Must Be Vulnerable
The Marble Statue Myth
Writing
Essays on leadership, resilience, and artificial intelligence
Every essay since 2010, newest first.
How to Build Rapport Fast in a Crisis Situation
When the room is hot with fear, your most powerful tool is not a perfect plan or a heroic speech. It’s rapport, the felt sense that “you see me, you hear me, and I can trust you enough to move with you.” In The Crisis Leader, I argue that rapid rapport is...
The Leader Who Had No Title: Influence from the Ground Up
Crises have a way of reordering the world’s assumptions. Systems that look strong on paper bend under pressure; ten-step plans collapse under the weight of reality; job titles lose their magic.
Storytelling in Crisis: How to Inspire Through Vision
Sirens don’t move people. Stories do.
Talk Straight, Listen First: The Role of Honest Communication
In a crisis, information is oxygen. When people can’t breathe, they can’t think; when they can’t think, they can’t act.
Building Trust in the First 24 Hours of a Crisis
Trust is the speed at which people will follow you into the unknown.
The Power of Influence in Times of Chaos
When the sky falls in, people don't instinctively run to the org chart. They run to the person who calms them, the one who acts, the one they trust.
Why True Leaders Emerge from Any Level of the Org Chart
Crisis has a way of exposing the truth about leadership. It strips away the safety nets of titles, hierarchies, and org charts, revealing who can truly step up when it matters most.
What is Crisis Leadership (And What it is Not?)
In moments of stability, organizations thrive on structure, predictability, and established processes. But when a crisis hits, those same systems can falter.
From Despair to Action - Leadership's Role in Rebuilding Hope
“At times like this the game goes to the one with the loudest voice, but everyone wishes their mother was there.” – Captain Jack Harkness, Torchwood