Developing the proper mindset

Embracing a strategic thought process that meets the challenges of:

o Self sustainability o Protecting the public o Event impact mitigation o Incident recovery

Fundamentals of leader preparedness

Building and managing a crisis team

Strategic-level role and responsibilities overview

Leveraging the benefits of relationship building:

o Both internal/external stakeholders

o Using “Whole Community” approach

o With renewed focus on faith-based and non-governmental organizations

Goal: “Everybody goes home whole”

Navigating the decision making process:

Developing a thought strategy

Gathering and evaluating Information

Predicting decision challenges

Delegating authority to act - without relinquishing oversight

Time is the enemy!

Fundamentals of the crisis decision-making process

Situational awareness, and other key challenges

Prioritizing decisions during crisis

Core capabilities and the advantage of resilience thinking

Tabletops (the “Gold Bar”)

Developing flexibility

Planning from the perspective of response, mitigation and recovery

Discovering the true purpose of plans: a thought process that supersedes the document

Calculating the benefit of discretionary planning

Leveraging “Best Practices” as a buffer to legal challenge

Understanding the critical plan elements

Using the “all hazards” approach

Implementing foresight and lessons learned

Incorporating flexibility and avoiding plan confinement

Applying the value of feedback to the ‘living document’

Understanding the “year-round” approach and development of an Economic Disaster Preparedness Plan

Establishing key elements and strategies in a self-contained disaster budget

Identifying mitigation steps to reduce fiscal impact

Cultivating a pre-disaster economic assistance network

Forming an Economic Disaster Response Team

Developing a planning and assessment process

Establishing economic relationships with private partners

Creating an agenda for economic recovery

Mapping the critical elements of effective messaging

Understanding the impact of message failure

Establishing the value of an effective Crisis Communications Plan

Messaging the media and control of internal and external messages

Establishing the need for pre-crisis preparation of messages

Leveraging the power of social media

Clarifying the communication cycle, challenges and participants

Utilizing key best practice statements to ensure clarity and quality

Takeaway: Leader’s Playbook An indispensible tool for local officials that will serve as a step-by-step ‘go-to’ guide during the heat of a crisis.

The Cook County Department of Homeland Security & Emergency Management would like to thank you for your time and participation,

and extend a special thanks to the National Association of Counties for this opportunity.