The Instant Survivor: Right Ways to Respond When Things Go Wrong

This is a crisis-management handbook that shows readers the four steps to going from head-in-the sand denial to head-held-high success. Jim Moorhead reveals the methods top companies use to tackle crises. In an energetic, upbeat style - laced with compassion and practicality - he explains how executives audit their businesses and fix problems before they mushroom into messes. When crises do occur, a crisis management team talks through the company's business and legal goals, analyzes the people and resources to deploy and the allies and experts to call upon, and debates the options before agreeing on a strategy. Whether the problem is downsizing, divorce, disability, or debt, Jim Moorhead, a seasoned trial attorney and crisis adviser,outlines four action steps to help any individual prevent and tackle life's hard and soft crises in an organization:

STAY FROSTY: Remain calm and focused when a crisis begins
SECURE SUPPORT: Tap into your network of personal and professional contacts
STAND TALL: Take full charge of your response
SAVE YOUR FUTURE: Prepare for post-crisis success

As he explains his steps to overcoming disasters and predicaments, Moorhead selects from firsthand accounts and anecdotes amassed during thirty years of experience in law, politics, and consultancy to inspire and encourage readers. These intriguing stories - of people overcoming everything from disease, debt, and job loss to car bombings and wrongful imprisonment - engage readers as they illustrate the author's key points.

What began as a knack for helping friends, family members, and classmates through personal struggles has grown into a lifelong career for Jim Moorhead, America's crisis advisor. Jim's humanity and passion for showing others how to confidently navigate through difficult situations is nothing short of remarkable.

Jim underwent his own personal crisis when he lost a statewide race that would have launched his political career. A few years later he accepted an extremely promising job, but the dot-com bust drove him even deeper into crisis. Drawing from a career spent helping corporations overcome large-scale upheavals, Jim developed a simple, actionable four-step system to help himself and others clear the types of professional and personal hurdles that many individuals encounter during their lives.

A graduate of Harvard College and Columbia Law School, Jim has coached hundreds of employees, business leaders, and political candidates on how to confront and conquer professional and personal disasters. An inspiring speaker as well as a respected crisis adviser, Jim regularly provides commentary on business and legal crises and has appeared on CNN, CNBC, MSNBC, Fox News, Fox Business, Court TV, and America's Talking.

Jim's work history as a reporter, investment banker, federal prosecutor, and political candidate gives him a breadth of experience that enables him to tailor his crisis management advice to individuals in all fields. He is currently a partner at a major Washington, DC, law firm, where he cofounded and cochairs the company's crisis management practice. With The Instant Survivor: Right Ways to Respond When Things Go Wrong, Jim has written the book on personal and professional crisis management and has become one of the country's most sought-after crisis management speakers.