The Resilient Journey

In 2010, BP CEO Tony Hayward faced backlash for saying, "I'd like my life back," during the Gulf of Mexico oil spill crisis. His comments are seen as the gold standard of what not to do in crisis communications. Hello everyone, and welcome to episode 163 of the Resilient Journey podcast, presented by the Resilience Think Tank. We have a very unique episode this week as we are joined by veteran news reporter turned media trainer Sean Mallen, who absolutely grills Mark during a mock press conference. In today’s episode, Mark pretends to be an unprepared company spokesperson facing the media after a very public cyber attack. Early in the episode Sean warns about spokespersons “facing a grilling” and being in for a “hard ride” – and that’s exactly what he gives Mark. Tune in to find out how quickly things can go off the rails.   Be sure to follow The Resilient Journey!  We sure do appreciate it! Learn more about the Resilience Think Tank here. Want to learn more about Mark? Click here or on LinkedIn or Twitter. Special thanks to Bensound for the music.  

Ronald Reagan’s famous quote, “trust, but verify” captures the balance between faith and caution. It reminds us to value trust while backing it up with evidence. When we think about risk and resilience, this week’s guest tells us the same thing. Hello everyone, and welcome to episode 162 of the Resilient Journey podcast, presented by the Resilience Think Tank. This week we revisit the relationship between risk and resilience by welcoming special guest Donna Speckhard. Donna and Mark talk about emerging threats that you and your organization should consider as we head into 2025. Donna explains how her own diversity of interests helps make her a better resilience professional. Then, she and Mark talk about third party risk and the importance of understanding what our key suppliers have in place in terms of plans, procedures and training.  And, she says “trust, but verify”.   Be sure to follow The Resilient Journey!  We sure do appreciate it! Learn more about the Resilience Think Tank here. Want to learn more about Mark? Click here or on LinkedIn or Twitter. Special thanks to Bensound for the music.  

This week’s guest takes a very simple approach to a complex problem. He gathers information about your business and then uses gaming software to build plausible threat cases to simulate an attack on your business. Hello everyone, and welcome to episode 161 of the Resilient Journey podcast, presented by the Resilience Think Tank. This week we are joined by AJ Leece, Managing Director of Brekade – the business resilience arcade company that builds software to allow organizations to run complex and informative exercises. AJ tells Mark that our industry fails to understand how people learn and explains his two very popular video games: Phishing Expedition and Incidents and Accidents. Brekade helps organizations understand the impact when people, process or technology fails unexpectedly. And for AJ, it comes down to one simple goal – protecting how your company makes money.   Be sure to follow The Resilient Journey!  We sure do appreciate it! Learn more about the Resilience Think Tank here. Want to learn more about Mark? Click here or on LinkedIn or Twitter. Special thanks to Bensound for the music.  

In what is arguably the best television show ever written, Aaron Sorkin captured the spirit of a White House and a President. The show was The West Wing. The President was Jed Bartlett. The phrase that was repeated over seven seasons was “What’s Next?”. Today, many of us are asking the same thing. Hello everyone, and welcome to episode 160 of the Resilient Journey podcast, presented by the Resilience Think Tank. This is an episode that every risk management, business continuity and crisis management professional needs to hear as we welcome long-term political advisor and crisis management expert John Ashford back to the podcast. John and Mark talk about the pending change in Washington with Republican control of the Oval Office and both houses of Congress. John offers an intentionally balanced view of what’s next – as it relates to tariffs, deregulation, infrastructure and the new administration’s impact on Ukraine and all of Europe.     Be sure to follow The Resilient Journey!  We sure do appreciate it! Learn more about the Resilience Think Tank here. Want to learn more about Mark? Click here or on LinkedIn or Twitter. Special thanks to Bensound for the music.

They say you can’t improve what you don’t measure. So what do we do? Maturity assessments? KPIs? Metrics? How do we translate all of this information into an effective story. What does good look like for your organization? Stick around and find out. Hello everyone, and welcome to episode 159 of the Resilient Journey podcast, presented by the Resilience Think Tank. This week, we discuss  the ‘why, what, when, and how’ of program measurement and maturity assessments with industry veteran Stuart Murray. Stuart emphasizes the importance of telling your story by reporting on what truly matters to your executive team. He explains that simply counting completed BIAs or updated plans doesn’t convey the full picture. Instead, he highlights three key areas of effective measurement: completeness, quality, and compliance. Stuart reminds us that having complete plans doesn’t necessarily mean they are of high quality. Plus, Mark explores the KPIs that executives prioritize, setting the stage for a future episode.   Be sure to follow The Resilient Journey!  We sure do appreciate it! Learn more about the Resilience Think Tank here. Want to learn more about Mark? Click here or on LinkedIn or Twitter. Special thanks to Bensound for the music.

This week’s guest calls himself a thorn in the side of the resilience industry. He doesn’t believe in documented plans, leveraging Mike Tyson’s quote – “Everybody has a plan until you get punched in the face.”   Simply put, heeees baaaack! Hello everyone and welcome to episode 158 of the Resilient Journey podcast, presented by the Resilience Think Tank. This week, resilience antagonist Mark Armour joins the podcast to talk about how to prepare and empower organizations without using documented business continuity plans. He believes organizations can have a great deal of capability without a plan. For him, our industry focuses too much on documentation and not enough on capability. Mark and Mark talk about the difference between plans and planning.  And they discuss the difference between capability and compliance.     Be sure to follow The Resilient Journey!  We sure do appreciate it! Learn more about the Resilience Think Tank here. Want to learn more about Mark? Click here or on LinkedIn or Twitter. Special thanks to Bensound for the music.  

The last several weeks of the 2024 hurricane season have been devastating for many in Florida and Georgia. Hurricanes Helene and Milton have seemingly popped up out of nowhere, leaving destruction in their wake. Hello everyone and welcome to episode 157 of the Resilient Journey podcast, presented by the Resilience Think Tank. This week, we’re happy to be joined once again by meteorologist Staci Saint-Preux who talks about the 2024 hurricane season. Did it meet expectations? How can powerful storms like Helene and Milton form quickly and still be so powerful? She reminds us why it’s so important to listen to weather experts when bad weather is approaching. She provides some advice to those responsible for business continuity and crisis management when it comes to weather related events. And, Staci explains what Storm-Geo is all about.     Be sure to follow The Resilient Journey!  We sure do appreciate it! Learn more about the Resilience Think Tank here. Want to learn more about Mark? Click here or on LinkedIn or Twitter. Special thanks to Bensound for the music.

If you are responsible for coaching your executives, this week’s guest tells us a secret. People don’t “need” coaching, they have to “want coaching”. And he tells us that past experiences with crises, can prepare our leaders to be more resilient. Hello everyone and welcome to episode 156 of the Resilient Journey podcast, presented by the Resilience Think Tank. This week, we’re pleased to be joined by Terence Clarke a transformational executive coach and cross-cultural leadership expert. This week, Terence shares his insights on resilient leadership. Including how we need to be prepared so that we can respond to a crisis, rather than react. Terence talks about his Triple A approach to understanding how to be effective when working in a different culture. And he reminds us that just because something is different, doesn’t mean it’s wrong. And, Mark let’s Terence get away with something he said he would never allow. Listen to the end to find out.     Be sure to follow The Resilient Journey!  We sure do appreciate it! Learn more about the Resilience Think Tank here. Want to learn more about Mark? Click here or on LinkedIn or Twitter. Special thanks to Bensound for the music.  

When two senior crisis management consultants collaborate on a response plan, it starts out a little more basic than you’d think – like establishing who’s in charge of the crisis and the skillset of that leader. And that kicks off an amazing conversation. Hello everyone and welcome to episode 155 of the Resilient Journey podcast, presented by the Resilience Think Tank. This week, Mark is joined by friend of the podcast Regina Phelps and the plan was….these two would walk through their crisis management approach to a cyberattack. That didn’t exactly happen. I mean, they talked about it. But really…it turned into an insightful conversation about building your crisis management team, and how to identify who works on what. Regina shares some incredible tips on knowing what to focus on and how team members can actually build their own checklist. And it’s probably very different than what you’ve been doing. And…Regina uses her walk up music to share some words of encouragement.     Be sure to follow The Resilient Journey!  We sure do appreciate it! Learn more about the Resilience Think Tank here. Want to learn more about Mark? Click here or on LinkedIn or Twitter. Special thanks to Bensound for the music.

This is the 20th year of National Cybersecurity Awareness Month! While technology has changed in the last two decades, the threat and impact of cybercriminals has not gone away. If you don’t think a cyberattack can happen to you – think again. Hello everyone and welcome to episode 154 of the Resilient Journey podcast, presented by the Resilience Think Tank. This week Mark is joined by cybersecurity thought leader Michael Perdunn. Michael and Mark discuss society’s desensitization to news of a data breach and how organizations cannot afford to take that same approach. Michael gives some expert advice on how to provide better phishing training. And they do a deep dive into a real-life and very scary extortion email. Michael explains how the bad actors make them look so real.   Be sure to follow The Resilient Journey!  We sure do appreciate it! Learn more about the Resilience Think Tank here. Want to learn more about Mark? Click here or on LinkedIn or Twitter. Special thanks to Bensound for the music.