21. What It Means to Be Crisis Ready Part 2 with Reputation Defender Melissa Agnes
We constantly face adversities. But when adversity turns into a full-blown crisis, are you and your organization prepared and confident enough to face it? Whether they admit it or not, most organizations are not crisis-ready. The generic crisis preparation plan most companies have wouldn’t work on the real battlefield. Thus, a clear-cut roadmap to business invincibility with the help of a reputation defender is necessary.
In this episode, reputation defender Melissa Agnes is back for the second part of our conversation about crisis readiness. She talks about how she discovered her purpose in educating and holding organizations accountable for crisis readiness. Melissa emphasizes how crucial crisis readiness is in making the world a kinder place. She also shares the lessons from her entrepreneurial journey and how it has shaped her outlook.
Tune in to the episode to learn about the impact of crisis readiness in creating a better world from a renowned reputation defender.
3 reasons why you should listen to the full episode:
Learn why crisis readiness is more critical than crisis management.
Discover the connection between being crisis-ready and creating a kinder world.
Find out why you should self-reflect instead of blaming other people.
Resources
Connect with Melissa: Website | LinkedIn | Facebook | Instagram
Crisis Ready: Building an Invincible Brand in an Uncertain World by Melissa Agnes
Episode 20: What It Means To Be Crisis Ready, Part 1 With Melissa Agnes
Episode Highlights
[2:32] How Melissa Discovered Her Purpose as a Reputation Defender
Melissa never asks, “Why me?” because her answer is always, “Why not me?”. It applies to both good and bad things.
She constantly processes the “why” of everything.
While she loves crisis management and being a reputation defender, she doesn’t believe that it is her purpose. Instead, her purpose is to educate organizations toward adopting a crisis-ready culture.
Part of her purpose as a reputation defender is to make the world a kinder, safer, and more balanced place for kids. Crisis readiness and crisis management are only her lenses of getting there.
We should educate people who don’t know better and hold those who should be doing better accountable.
[6:21] Traits of a Successful Entrepreneur
Melissa doesn’t see herself as successful yet. But she is relentless, hardworking, and persevering.
Money is just money. You can always make more of it.
Melissa values freedom over anything else. She prefers to have no money working for herself and her purpose than to feel trapped working for somebody else.
What works for Melissa isn’t for everybody; we all have a different journey.
Melissa: “I was stubborn. Some might call it foolish, or some might call it relentless, or some—put whatever word on. But it was that passion. It was that I’m working towards something, and I believe in myself, and I believe that I’ll get there.”
[10:16] Facing the Consequences of Not Being Crisis Ready
Melissa would never say, “I told you so,” despite her frustration.
She started getting a lot of calls when COVID-19 hit. It was frustrating because her aim with her work as a reputation defender is for her clients not to need her.
Fortunately, her clients were crisis-ready when COVID-19 hit.
It’s crucial to hold organizations accountable when they have a big responsibility to the people they serve.
A long-time client initially brought in Melissa as a keynote speaker to train their team. But she quickly realized that what they needed was a crisis-ready program.
Melissa: “Crisis, in its worst form, impacts livelihoods. It impacts lives. It impacts [the] economy. And it impacts [the] environment. That’s our society, and that’s our world. And that’s important to do right by.”
[13:03] Being Crisis Ready to Create a Kinder World
Crisis readiness means putting people first.
A kinder world has strong leaders who are empathetic and emotionally intelligent. These leaders can validate people’s emotions, guide them, and lead them.
Helping people feel validated is where kindness comes in.
We all have the power to interact with people in a way that inspires and empowers them.
Melissa: “We can choose to ruin somebody’s day. Or we can choose to do something small for somebody that may seem inconsequential, but that inspires and empowers them for the next ten years of their lives. We all have the power to do that in every single interaction every single day.”
[15:06] Looking Inwardly Instead of Blaming Other People
Blaming serves nothing other than your ego.
Melissa challenges herself constantly to continue to be on purpose to what her next evolution would be
As an entrepreneur, Melissa sees the adversities she faced as nobody else’s fault but hers. She doesn’t see any purpose in blaming.
Complain about something if you’re going to fix it or put effort into fixing it.
[16:42] What Melissa Wished She Had Done Differently
As someone who’s introspective and self-conscious, Melissa only felt shame in a few instances.
She has made many mistakes in her life, but she is who she is now because of those.
Melissa doesn’t view her mistakes as regrets that she would redo.
[19:11] Why She Thinks She Has Had Success in Her Practice
First, Melissa is exceptional at what she does.
Second, she works like a crazy person.
Finally, she’s extremely blessed.
About Melissa
Melissa Agnes is the brains behind the Crisis Ready® Model. She is also the founder and CEO of the Crisis Ready Institute. She is a recognized thought leader in crisis preparedness, brand protection, and reputation management. Furthermore, Melissa is also the author of Crisis Ready, one of Forbes’ Top 10 Business Books in 2018. In 2019, she founded the Crisis Ready® Community as a space for professionals to hone their crisis-ready skills.
Melissa is a sought-out keynote speaker, commentator, strategic advisor, and reputation defender. Throughout her career, she has worked with several well-known institutions. These include NATO, the Pentagon (DoD), US Ministries of Foreign Affairs and Defense, and more.
If you want to reach out to Melissa, you can visit her website, LinkedIn, Facebook, and Instagram. You can also visit Crisis Ready Institute’s website.
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