20. What It Means to Be Crisis Ready Part 1 with Reputation Defender Melissa Agnes

Positive Mindset

May 20

2020 has undoubtedly been one of the most challenging years of our lives. It felt as if the world was gleefully throwing curveball after curveball. Everything that has transpired this year has put many organizations in a difficult position. This is particularly true when it comes to handling crises. Thus, 2020 showed us of how crucial crisis readiness is with someone like a reputation defender.

Reputation defender Melissa Agnes joins us to talk about what it means to be crisis-ready. She shares the term’s coinage and how it has honed their mission at the Crisis Ready Institute. She also imparts the process behind delivering a complex message through a compelling TEDx Talk. Finally, Melissa shares how her personal journey and relationship with her sister helped her find her calling.

Discover the importance of adopting a crisis-ready culture and being a reputation defender! Tune in to the episode to learn more.

3 reasons why you should listen to the full episode:

Find out what it means to be crisis-ready.
Learn the most critical aspect that makes up a successful business.
Discover the importance of mindfulness and being a reputation defender in crisis readiness.

Resources

Episode Highlights

[03:21] Why Crisis Readiness?

Crisis readiness is a term Melissa coined. This stemmed from her disagreeing with the status quo of crisis management and crisis preparedness.
Her job as a reputation defender is to help organizations adopt a crisis-ready culture.
We must understand what risk looks like, how to assess it, and how to effectively respond collaboratively.
Crisis readiness is about taking a negative situation and transforming it into brand equity.

Melissa: “[Crisis readiness is] not about having a plan that sits dominantly on a shelf that does absolutely nothing to serve you when you need it.”

[05:02] The Crisis Ready Institute

The Crisis Ready Institute’s mission is to change and elevate the status quo.
Everything about crisis readiness is a learnable skill. Yet, it’s not something taught in school.
Crisis readiness is a required skill today if you want to succeed in business and life.
The Institute aims to empower and provide a crisis-ready skill set to professionals.
They also help organizations develop a crisis-ready program and ingrain it into their culture.

[06:29] Melissa’s Perspective as a Reputation Defender

Melissa didn’t realize her perspective was different from the industry until her book came out.
Industry professionals started contacting her about crisis preparedness because they felt they’ve been wronged before.
A successful organization is built on relationships. The common denominator in every business is human beings.
Crisis management is doing right by the people you serve and your relationships. It’s always people above process.
Melissa has a talent for breaking down very complex matters and communicating them. This led her to establish her brand as a reputation defender.

Melissa: “We all live life through our learned experiences, through our lived experiences, and with our own lens, right? So while we can be empathetic and try to put ourselves in other shoes, we see life through our lens.”

[09:07] How to Deliver a Complex Message on TEDx

Melissa’s effective delivery combines her skill in breaking down complex processes and making every second count.
When preparing for her TEDx talk, Melissa had to be strategic and calculate the time she had.
The biggest takeaway was how much of a collaborative effort it needed to be.
Melissa sent recorded iterations of her speech to colleagues and peers for their feedback.
She visualized what success looks like and how she wants to feel when she walks off the stage.

[11:28] The Importance of Being Crisis Ready

The Crisis Ready Institute is about to launch a curriculum for college students.
We must understand the difference between an issue versus a crisis.
You have to know the thresholds that escalate an issue to a crisis. Otherwise, emotions will cloud your judgment, and you won’t have a winning chance.
Luck is not a strategy, especially for leadership.
Being thoughtful and mindful about a crisis beforehand gives you a lot of power when it strikes.

[13:42] Taking Responsibility for Her Sister at 18

Melissa called herself a floater in college because she had no idea what her purpose was.
At that time, her 15-year-old sister was in a hard place. Melissa intuitively knew that something wrong would happen if she didn’t step in.
Melissa dropped out of school to take responsibility for her sister for about a year.
She never felt that she was giving up on her dreams. Melissa always had a strong sense of self and knew she would be happy at the end.
Melissa: “Are other people going to step up and do what I believe to be right? No? Okay, then I will. That didn't feel like a sacrifice; that's love, from my perspective.”

[17:51] Becoming a Parent for Her Sister

Melissa found caring for her sister natural as she was protective by nature.
Melissa was always more mature than her age, and her sister was the opposite.
What they went through led to an indescribably strong and unbreakable sisterly bond.

[19:33] Melissa’s Strong Sense of Responsibility

Melissa looks to see who else is stepping up when something goes against her core values.
If nobody’s doing it, she tends to stand up and do it. It’s the way she’s wired.

[21:33] Parting Ways with the People We Value

At 25, she had spent seven years fighting and resisting her sister’s choices.
One of the hardest lessons she had to learn was you can’t help somebody unless they want to be helped.
Melissa will fight for people she loves, but at some point, she will choose herself.
Melissa shares her other sentiments regarding her sister and their experiences in the full episode.

[23:09] Finding Her Calling in Crisis Management

● Her childhood and her natural wiring have set her up for her calling as a reputation defender.

● Everything about crisis readiness is the way Melissa has always led her life. All she does is apply it to business.

● She turned this calling into a model and practice that scales it and serves organizations.

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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