When disaster strikes, the CEO will be tasked with steering the company through an unexpected crisis.
For a few moments, just imagine all those ‘what ifs’ that could impact your business. Here’s a list from A to Z:
- Arson
- Business-related law suits
- Casualty losses
- Devastating floods
- Electronic loss of data
- Fire losses
- Governmental regulations that threaten continuity of operations
- Horrific rumors that cause damage to a firm’s reputation
- Infringement of proprietary patents
- Juries awarding unjust judgments against a company
- Killer computer failures that shut down a company’s data operations
- Legal wrangles that tax the company’s coffers
- Mitigation woes from environmentalists
- Natural disasters
- Operational failures that shut down an office
- Peeved clients who defame your company
- Queries from tax-levying agencies that turn into a fishing expedition
- Regulations that hit hard at a company’s essential operations
- Spies who steal proprietary information
- Tax collectors that drain the company’s time
- Unexpected accidents of all kinds
- Vicious rumors that cause sales to plummet
- Weather-related shutdowns
- Xenophobic employees who trigger harassing lawsuits
- Youthful thieves who break in and steal your property
- Zealous activists that besmirch your reputation
Remember that during disasters a CEO must calm investors, company officers and personnel, who may be shaken by unexpected events. Since these types of events are hard to predict in advance, it can be helpful for non-competing CEOs to gather round the table and run through various scenarios.
Consider staging a trial run with other non-competitive CEO colleagues to get a feel for how anyone among them might prepare for a disaster scenario. Having friends and colleagues at the ready with sage advice just may save the day!