The majority of public and private sector companies, as well as many local, state and Federal agencies pay lip service to preparing for a crisis: but only a small percentage has taken the tangible and ongoing steps necessary to ensure that a product liability case, natural disaster, an act of work place violence or other catastrophic event doesn't cause an internal and external crisis-based meltdown. Please read through the questions below—and see if your organization, its executives and managers are truly ready to effectively manage a crisis and lead employees, investors and the public successfully through it.

Crisis #1:

Are you prepared to lead your organization through a crisis relating to work place violence?

Work place violence is not limited to the Post Office. It's more common than you think. What has your organization done to prepare for this calamity which can easily morph into a full blown crisis?

Crisis #2:

Product liability issues or a lack of public trust in your company's products?

Remember the recent issue with Wendy's in California? A woman customer claimed that she found a part of a finger in her chili? It turned out to be a lie, but it still cost Wendy's millions of dollars in lost business. You don't have to sell food or drugs or dangerous toys in order to be the victim of product liability claims that can derail your marketing efforts, drag your organization's good name through the mud: or cause the loss of millions of dollars in revenues – and millions more in added legal expenses.

Crisis #3:

Corporate compliance and financial irregularities.

For public companies, corporate compliance issues aren't just the domain of Sarbanes-Oxley and the SEC. The disclosure of even minor accounting irregularities can lead to a full blown crisis in confidence of your company's stock or your organization's credibility and integrity. Does Fannie Mae ring a bell?

Crisis #4:

Corporate culture that encourages employees to disregard ethical considerations.

Often times, an organization's culture can be the root cause of employees creating false and misleading data with regard to their company's actual performance. Managers and executives who insist on blind loyalty from their subordinates create an environment in which employees feel pressured to cook the books to meet financial benchmarks or release new products before they are ready. Did I hear someone say Ken Lay? Enron? WorldCom? Bernie Ebbers?

Crisis #5:

A terrorist attack, a company specific attack, natural disaster, or other catastrophic event.

The 9/11 Public Discourse Project (the successor, non-government investigative panel to the 9/11 Commission) headed by Thomas H. Kean and Lee H. Hamilton said this in a recently released report: "Standards are only beginning to find their way into private sector business practices." They graded the private sector over all with a grade of "C." Can your organization afford to maintain that grade point? Ask yourself, "What would happen if...? We don't think you'll be satisfied with your own answers.