Description

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Silver Award Winner in Advertising/Marketing​-Axiom Business Book Awards 2021

How many splashy scandals and crisis situations have befallen companies and public figures in the past week alone? How did the organizations and people at the center of those crises manage the situation? Did they survive with their reputations intact or are they facing an ongoing public nightmare that keeps building on itself in the era of social media?

This new book from veteran public relations expert Edward Segal is based on the following premise: it's not a matter of IF a scandal or crisis will hit, it's WHEN. How a company deals with it will have lasting impact on their reputation, profits, and more. But for most organizations, when a crisis hits, they're caught off guard and ill-prepared. While essential, crisis plans are worthless unless properly executed, as the stories and examples featured throughout Crisis Ahead attest. Edward Segal's vivid and memorable accounts underscore the benefits of practicing and updating crisis plans at least once a year. The book also provides a template for creating a customizable crisis management plan.

Crisis Ahead is for CEOs, senior staff, corporate communication professionals, HR and legal teams, boards of directors, and front-line employees who need to know what to do in the moment: what levers to pull and what moves to make in real time when faced with a crisis, scandal, or disaster. This book is written with the need for speed in mind. It's concise and practical with a light touch and occasional humor to help people on the front lines prepare for, survive, and bounce back from a crisis. It includes dozens of anecdotes, stories, and lessons about how companies, organizations, and individuals - ranging from Amazon, Apple, and the European Union, to Disney, Starbucks, and entrepreneur Elon Musk - have prepared for, created, managed, and communicated about crisis situations.

About the Author

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Edward Segal has more than 30 years' experience as a crisis management expert. He managed crisis situations as the C EO of two trade associations; advised and helped organizations survive disasters, scandals, and emergencies including the arrest and firing of corporate officers, hate crimes, and sexual harassment; and conducted crisis management and communication training for hundreds of executives and their staffs. Segal is the former marketing strategies columnist for The Wall Street Journal's StartUpJournal.com and senior media relations consultant for Ogilvy Public Relations Worldwide. He has provided expert PR advice and counsel to more than 500 corporations and organizations.

Praise For…

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"With real-time social media available to billions of people, a crisis is just one tweet or YouTube video away. However, when something does occur that has potential to affect your reputation, 'no comment' is not a savvy response. Crisis Ahead prepares you for effectively managing threats to your business. It's your guide to the strategies and tactics of effective real-time communications. Read it so you will be ready when (not if) crisis hits your organization."
—David Meerman Scott, marketing strategist, entrepreneur, and bestselling author of eleven books including The New Rules of Marketing and PR.

"Having dealt with a crisis or two and maybe causing a few on my own, I appreciate Edward Segal's primer on how to prepare for and respond to a crisis. Every organization, business, or political candidate will face some sort of crisis. It is inevitable and probably unavoidable. But there are successful strategies, tactics, and techniques for dealing with crisis situations, and Segal presents them here clearly and succinctly with his memorable "10-R's of crisis management" and useful guidance on how communicators can rise to the challenges they will face."—Mike McCurry, former State Department and White House Spokesman (1993-1998); Professor/Director, Wesley Theological Seminary

"Crisis Ahead is the ultimate and invaluable survival guide for business executives who are knee-deep in a crisis and a handy reference book for company officials who want to prepare for the inevitable. Edward Segal helps you assess your readiness to handle a crisis and provides a practical handbook - packed with exciting real-world examples that required real-world solutions- for crisis communication planning everyone can benefit from. Edward's conversational writing style makes Crisis Ahead a quick and easy read and its innovative design ensures you can immediately find the advice and information you need before, during, or after a crisis."—Mitchell E. Marovitz, Ph.D., APR, Fellow PRSA, Chair, Public Relations Program, Business and Management Department, The Graduate School, University of Maryland Global Campus

"Edward Segal has drawn from his experience as a CEO and an experienced crisis-communication counselor to produce an insightful and practical book that will be useful to leaders and managers in companies and nonprofit organizations alike. The book considers myriad scenarios that could lead to a crisis situation, and the checklists and exercises he has included well-support application of the thought processes and practices he suggests. As Edward notes, crises ignore no organization, and the key to responding well is preparing well. His new guide is designed to support just that."

—John H. Graham IV, FASAE, CAE former President and CEO, ASAE: The Center for Association Leadership

"Crisis Ahead is the one book every CEO and other company officials should have in easy reach on their desks before, during, and after a disaster, scandal, or other emergency strikes. This is a quick and easy read with important advice and insights for anyone who helps lead or manage a business or organization. Don't wait until there is a crisis to figure out how to respond and recover from it. Do yourself and your organization a big favor and start reading Crisis Ahead today."—Arnold Sanow Author, ?Get Along with Anyone, Anytime, Anywhere?

"In Crisis Ahead, Edward Segal puts his wealth of experience and knowledge about crisis management and communication at your fingertips. He has written a lively, engaging, and practical handbook that provides invaluable insights and advice for preventing, managing, and recovering from dozens of crisis situations. Crisis Ahead is like having your own personal crisis management expert available and on call 24/7."—Karen Friedman Karen Friedman Enterprises Author, ?Shut Up And Say Something!?, ?Ordinary People: Extraordinary Lessons?

"Great CEOs know the importance of contingency planning. They are ready for the crisis before it strikes. Edward Segal's Crisis Ahead provides a practical and realistic guide that reflects his diverse background as a PR consultant, CEO, corporate spokesperson, journalist, and astute observer of how others have responded to a variety of crisis situations. Edward is an authority on crisis management whose deep knowledge and extensive expertise is on full display in Crisis Ahead. All CEOs, managers, and boards of directors should read it as soon as possible."—Jerry Matthews Author, "Reach Zenith: The 10 Intangible Skills of Great CEOs."

"Associations and nonprofit organizations sometime wrongly believe they are immune from a crisis, or that its impact will be minimal. It is not difficult to find news about organizations that have had to deal with million dollar embezzlements, violations of the law ("We didn't know") or a death at their planned event. Having a crisis response plan and resources is critical for survival for leaders, staff, and boards of directors Crisis Ready, and the expertise and examples provided by author Edward Segal, are valuable tools."—Bob Harris, CAE The Nonprofit Center

"I know from my experience and research that proactive planning is critical in order for companies and organizations to successfully weather a crisis and come out even stronger on the other side. The bad news is that crises are inevitable. The good news is that in Crisis Ready Edward Segal provides the protocols that are necessary to help ensure the survival of a business and the resiliency of its brand."—Sweta Chakraborty, Ph.D. Risk and Behavioral Scientist Millennium Leadership Fellow, The Atlantic Council US Representative, We Don?t Have Time

"Edward Segal's newest book is nothing short of crisis management gold. It is the smart, straight-forward, comprehensive, "how to" guide you need to get ready for and manage the unexpected and the unthinkable. Crisis Ready is the one-stop, go-to reference guide on crisis management for anyone who starts, runs, or helps lead any business or organization."Why put your company or organization at risk by ignoring or denying problems that can impact your reputation, operations, and bottom line? By following Edward's comprehensive and practical advice, you can have the confidence and peace of mind that you are as readY as you can be for any crisis and can bounce back from it as soon as possible."—David Nellis Principal, Executive Creative Director Return on Investment marketing and communication agency

~u~> "Edward Segal is a battle-tested crisis management expert who had spent years in the trenches dealing with scores of crisis situations and providing advice and counsel to organizations who have found themselves in the fire pit of crisis. In this new book, Crisis Ready, he shares his time tested secrets to help you turn your setbacks (crisis moments) into stellar comebacks and help you WIN!"

span—Dr. Willie Jolley Hall of Fame Speaker Best-selling author, A Setback Is A Setup For A Comeback & An Attitude of Excellence Nationally Syndicated Radio & TV Personality

"A wide range of crises from a wayward CEO to a natural disaster to a shooting incident are covered here. Keep this book close. You never know when your crisis will strike."

—Ed Barks President, Barks Communications Author, A+ Strategies for C-Suite Communications and The Truth About Public Speaking

"In an age of constant crisis, everyone needs to think differently and garner new skills. Think like legendary broadcast journalist Edward R. Murrow, act like a social media guru, lead like General George Patton, take risks like Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter Ernie Pyle, and understand human motivations like the Dalai Lama. Crisis Ready adroitly leads you on that path to being a patient teacher and visionary for your company or organization."—Richard Levick, Esq. Chairman & CEO, LEVICK, the global crisis communications agency; author of The Communicators: Leadership in the Age of Crisis and other books

"If you are a leader of any type of organization, then Edward Segal's Crisis Ready is a must-have.

Any executive who wants to learn how to avoid, manage and recover from a crisis will find Segal's ideas and suggestions invaluable."—Coni K Meyers, LMC, CBLC, CDC Kickbutt Leadership Visionary & Mentor Four-time International Best-Selling Author of Crystalline Moments, Success Chronicles, Resilience in the Storm, and Conceived to

"This book is a must-read for anyone who might deal with a organizational or company crisis at some point in their career."—Danny Selnick Communication Consultant and Former Executive of Two Press Release News Wire Services