What do Marriott, Peloton, and Major League Baseball (MLB) have in common? Each has recently navigated a major crisis in the court of public opinion. Marriott’s licensing agreement termination with Sonder left guests stranded and fuming mid-stay. Peloton announced its second product recall in just two years. And the MLB is the latest major sports organization whose players have been swept up in sports betting scandals.
Crisis is everywhere. And while big brands may dominate the headlines, smaller companies face equally urgent situations. Regardless of a company’s size, leaders must be prepared when the ever-turning wheel of misfortune lands on their spot—because it will.
Despite this inevitability, less than half of U.S. companies have a formal crisis plan in place according to a 2023 report by Forbes. I see it in my workshops all the time. Fewer than a fourth of the countless leaders I’ve worked with have a dedicated crisis plan or team in place to help them navigate a crisis. Whether they are consciously kicking the can of crisis preparedness down the road or simply don’t know where to start, the consequences are the same. It’s not if you will ever experience a crisis, it’s when and how severe. Failing to prepare can shatter reputations, destroy careers, and cripple revenue in a matter of moments. Here are four actionable steps to ensure you aren’t caught off guard when crisis hits.
1. Create a crisis plan
Planning is the most effective way to manage a crisis, yet many leaders find excuses to put it off. Some believe it will never happen to them; others underestimate the value of crisis planning because it does not generate revenue. In reality, crisis can happen to anyone, at any time, and facing a crisis without a plan is a major revenue drain, especially considering all the emergency expenses needed to manage it. A crisis plan is an essential tool that serves as a roadmap for navigating crisis response: In the same Forbes report, 98% of leaders who had activated their crisis communications plans found them to be effective. A plan doesn’t need to be long—30 pages is more than sufficient—and should include an introduction, lessons learned from past crises, company information, crisis team member information, the company’s risk profile, and key questions to ask during crisis to get as many details as possible.
2. Develop a crisis team
The crisis team is a designated group of people from inside and outside an organization that assembles at a moment’s notice when crisis hits to help gather the facts and take appropriate action. This group of people will help leaders navigate the most sensitive moments of their careers, so it’s imperative to choose team members who will not only provide sound insight, but will also hold the company and its leaders accountable when necessary. A crisis team should be limited to no more than 12 people and should include representation from the President/CEO, senior VPs, division managers, IT, legal counsel, communications, HR, and finance. Each of these members brings valuable perspective from different departments and may represent different groups of stakeholders. Smaller companies can have as few as three individuals on their team—you should never try to navigate a crisis alone.
3. Get comfortable with the uncomfortable
As disconcerting as it can be for leaders to address the myriad risks their company faces on a daily basis, envisioning worst-case scenarios and developing a risk profile enables the development of a crisis management strategy before one hits. Worst case scenarios can range from a data breach that compromises proprietary information to an on-the-job employee injury. As there is a virtually unending list of worst-case scenarios, a company’s risk profile will depend on the specific organization and industry. In the AI era, there’s no reason for leaders not to have a tailored risk profile. Getting started is as easy as typing in your company’s details. (Note: AI is not an appropriate tool to draft public-facing statements.) Once the risk profile has been established, you can predraft holding statements for each scenario that will serve as a guide during active crisis and save 20 to 30 minutes of precious time.
4. Learn how to recognize a crisis in your organization
Crises often catch leaders off guard because the buildup that caused them goes unrecognized. Most crises are the result of an unsolved business problem. If the problem can be identified and addressed, it’s far less likely to snowball into a full-blown crisis. Take the example of Peloton—in 2023, it recalled 2 million bikes after broken seat posts led to multiple reported injuries. The business problem? Poor quality product posing a safety risk to riders. In November 2025, Peloton recalled nearly 900,000 more . . . for the exact same reason. This unresolved business problem created a crisis cycle that eroded consumer trust. Other business problems that commonly lead to crisis include weak security that invites cybercrime, failing to prioritize employee safety resulting in death or injury, or a lack of succession planning that leads to a company’s downfall in the event of a CEO’s death or departure.
While leaders can’t prevent crisis, they can prepare for it. Crisis planning could be the most valuable investment a leader ever makes. Because in business it’s not if a crisis will ever happen, it’s whether you’ll be ready when it does.