Lessons in Crisis Management for National Sports Organizations

Crisis management is as much an expression of leadership as it is of organizational responsiveness. Outstanding leaders prepare their organization for an emergency, instill values that would support a powerful, ethical response and - when the crisis hits - lead from the front and communicate in an open and powerful way.

Organizations are often confronted with scandals, emergencies and high visibility controversies. The need to prepare for the unthinkable has never been greater either. The enormous complexity of today’s sports organizations and the global environment in which they operate is one of the biggest contributing causes to crises.

All too few leaders prepare for a crisis when the skies are clear and before disaster strikes. The webinar will explain the stages of a crisis, discusses the skills of effective crisis leadership and offer suggestions on how to steer a national organization through the eye of the storm. It is intended to help national voluntary sector leaders better understand what can be done to reduce the likelihood of a crisis, and lessen the impact when (not if) a crisis finally occurs.

Topics to be discussed include:

• Definition of a crisis;
• Common features of a crisis;
• Stages of Crisis Management;
• Leadership in a Crisis: Skills, Behaviours, Actions
• Lessons Learned from Crisis Management in Sport