Extreme Crisis Leadership: A Handbook for Leading Through the Unpredictable

This concise handbook presents a framework to help leaders across sectors understand what their role should be in an extreme crisis and supplements this understanding with practical advice.

Leadership is often presented as a kind of mastery―but no single person can master an extreme crisis event such as the COVID-19 pandemic. Leaders need a workable resource based on research and experience that can be accessed quickly and referenced easily to effectively handle crises and mitigate repercussions: This handbook is that resource. It begins with diagnostic tools to identify crisis types and leadership roles, then presents an easy-to-use matrix framework that allows readers to focus on the specific example-based section that best fits their role and the kind of crisis they face.

This handbook is accessible to leaders at all levels, from shift supervisors and emergency responders to CEOs and government executives. It will be an essential ready reference for any leader who might expect to encounter an extreme crisis, as well as for those who would not have foreseen themselves in such a situation.

Dr. Charles A. Casto is a safety and regulatory professional with over 45 years of experience, including executive, regulatory, technical, and operational roles. Dr. Casto is the recipient of both the US Presidential Distinguished Award (2012) and the US Meritorious Rank Award (2009) and he served at the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) for 28 years. His international experience as an extreme crisis leader includes having led the integrated US Government and NRC effort in Japan during and after the Fukushima nuclear accident, representing the US Government to the Japanese Prime Minister’s Cabinet.