TCIP #060 – Managing The Fort McMurray Wildfire Crisis, With Jordan Redshaw
Leading Through Change with Melissa Agnes
Release Date: 03/15/2018
Strategic Emotionality: The New Skillset for Visionary Leaders
Leading Through Change with Melissa Agnes
We've been taught to lead with logic, suppress emotion, and control the narrative. But what if that’s exactly what’s keeping us stuck? In this episode of Leading Through Change, Melissa challenges the outdated belief that emotion has no place in the boardroom. She explores how emotionality—when understood, named, and strategically integrated—becomes a powerful leadership tool. You’ll learn: Why emotion is not the enemy, it's simply energy in motion How low-frequency emotions like anger and grief can become catalysts for connection What “meeting people in their emotionality”...
info_outline
How to Create Safety Amidst Chaos and Uncertainty
Leading Through Change with Melissa Agnes
Why do people resist change—even when it's clearly good for them? If you've ever felt frustrated trying to lead people through transformation, only to hit wall after wall of resistance, this episode will change everything. The breakthrough insight: Resistance isn't something to overcome—it's a signal that people don't feel safe enough to transform. In this episode, discover the four levels of safety every leader must master to dissolve resistance and create the conditions where real transformation becomes possible. You'll learn why one's level of transformation is directly linked to their...
info_outline
The One Truth That's Destroying Our World
Leading Through Change with Melissa Agnes
There's one "truth" everyone accepts without question. It shapes how leaders respond to crisis. How organizations handle change. How teams navigate conflict. How entire societies function. And it's actively destroying everything. In this paradigm-shattering episode, Melissa Agnes exposes the lie that's been driving failed leadership responses, broken systems, and endless cycles of division and suffering. From Wells Fargo's $3 billion crisis to Peloton's 94% stock collapse, every leadership failure traces back to this single illusion. But here's what makes this episode transformational: Melissa...
info_outline
Everything You've Been Taught About Leadership Intelligence Is Wrong
Leading Through Change with Melissa Agnes
In this transformative episode, Melissa challenges one of leadership's most fundamental assumptions: that we should think our way through decisions. But what if our overreliance on logic is precisely why leaders feel paralyzed during times of uncertainty and change? Through the lens of the 2020 pandemic response, she illustrates how even the most powerful leaders became frozen when lacking cognitive answers – creating a dangerous leadership vacuum that amplified fear and suffering. The solution? Accessing our three intelligence centers: the brain (cognitive intelligence), the heart...
info_outline
How Coherence Turns Chaos into Clarity
Leading Through Change with Melissa Agnes
In times of crisis and change, the most powerful person in the room isn't the loudest or the most authoritative—it's the calmest. But what creates this calm, and how does it transform chaos into clarity? In this episode, Melissa explains the science and practice of heart-brain coherence—a leadership superpower that few have been taught. She reveals how your emotional state directly influences your ability to lead others through change, backed by fascinating research from the HeartMath Institute (). When fear and resistance run high, logic alone fails. Discover how coherence bypasses...
info_outline
Fear Isn’t the Problem — Unawareness Is
Leading Through Change with Melissa Agnes
Welcome to the very first episode of Leading Through Change — a space for leaders who know the old models of control, fear, and reactivity aren’t working… and who feel deeply called to lead differently. In this premiere episode, Melissa Agnes pulls back the curtain on one of the most misunderstood forces in leadership: fear. Not the kind you name out loud. The kind that creeps in under the surface. Hijacks decisions. Clouds clarity. And shapes cultures silently and powerfully. You’ll explore: Why fear is the costliest risk in leadership (and the one most leaders ignore) How...
info_outline![How To Improve Your Crisis Communication Strategy By Understanding Near And Far Enemies [Audio of Blog Post] show art](https://assets.libsyn.com/item/30679893?height=50&width=50)
How To Improve Your Crisis Communication Strategy By Understanding Near And Far Enemies [Audio of Blog Post]
Leading Through Change with Melissa Agnes
Connection is at the heart of any good crisis communication strategy. However, we’ve all seen leaders attempt to connect with their audience with all the right words, and yet something feels… off. While a Crisis Ready Hindrance is often blocking that connection, understanding near and far emotional enemies is a powerful tool to help you overcome those Hindrances to resonate and connect in meaningful ways. Within this podcast, which is the audio version of a recent Crisis Ready blog post, Melissa Agnes explores how near and far enemies give leaders and crisis...
info_outline![How to Apply Emotional Awareness to Powerfully Enhance Crisis Communication [Audio of Blog Post] show art](https://assets.libsyn.com/item/30022223?height=50&width=50)
How to Apply Emotional Awareness to Powerfully Enhance Crisis Communication [Audio of Blog Post]
Leading Through Change with Melissa Agnes
In order to achieve the mark of a true crisis leader, you must be able to effectively apply emotional awareness to your crisis communication strategy. This episode explores what that means and how to achieve it. This is the audio recording of a blog post, written and narrated by Melissa Agnes, and published to CrisisReadyInstitute.com.
info_outline![Could We Train AI with Emotional Intelligence to Predict a Crisis? [Audio of Blog Post] show art](https://assets.libsyn.com/item/30022128?height=50&width=50)
Could We Train AI with Emotional Intelligence to Predict a Crisis? [Audio of Blog Post]
Leading Through Change with Melissa Agnes
Make no mistake: AI absolutely will affect crisis communication — and crisis in general, for that matter. Recently, my friend and the queen of PR herself, Gini Deitrich said something that got me thinking about predictive AI even further: Could AI predict the emotional escalation of a crisis… before it begins to happen? This episode explores this concept and what it could mean for the crisis communication industry. This is the audio recording of a blog post, written and narrated by Melissa Agnes, and published to CrisisReadyInstitute.com.
info_outline
How To Never Lose A Customer Again
Leading Through Change with Melissa Agnes
How you make your customers feel is the powerful differentiator from your competitors, lends to the emotional connection you build with your stakeholders, and can ultimately make or break your brand’s invincibility.
info_outlineThe Horse River Wildfire that took place in Fort McMurray, Alberta, Canada, in May 2016, was unprecedented in Canadian history. Eighty-eight thousand people needed to be evacuated in the span of only a few hours, for a month-long evacuation. This wildfire was so catastrophic that its economic impact actually impacted Canada’s GDP.
I recently had the opportunity to sit down with Jordan Redshaw, one of the communications managers with the recovery task force at the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo (a.k.a. Fort McMurray), to discuss his experience in being one of only two people responsible for communicating with the Fort McMurray community, to help 88,000 people evacuate safely. Throughout this conversation, Jordan generously shares his biggest lessons and takeaways from this experience. It’s an insightful and engaging conversation that I know you’ll enjoy!
This episode of The Crisis Intelligence Podcast discusses:
- The crisis communication strategies Jordan and his team used to effectively evacuate 88,000 people in only a few hours.
- How Jordan and his team leveraged monitoring tools to help expand the reach of their crisis communications.
- The biggest lessons Jordan learned while managing this crisis.
- The after effects that this crisis had on both those who were part of the emergency management and the community at large.
- Jordan’s tips for being crisis ready for emergency management situations within your own community.
Running time: 47:20
Subscribe to the Crisis Intelligence Podcast!
Subscribe and leave us a review on iTunes and/or Stitcher
Subscribe via email
In this episode, I mention a previous episode of The Crisis Intelligence Podcast, where Garth Rowan and I discussed the management of this crisis as it unfolded. Listen to this podcast here.
Connect with Melissa and Jordan
About host, Melissa Agnes
Author of Crisis Ready: Building an Invincible Brand in This Uncertain World, Melissa Agnes is a leading authority on crisis preparedness, reputation management, and brand protection. Agnes is a coveted speaker, commentator, and advisor to some of today’s leading organizations faced with the greatest risks.
Learn more about Melissa Agnes
Follow Melissa on Twitter: @melissa_agnes
About guest, Jordan Redshaw
Connect with Jordan on LinkedIn.
Follow Jordan on Twitter: @JordanRedshaw.
I’d like to extend a big thanks to Jordan for the important work you do, as well as for taking the time to discuss your experience and the important lessons you’ve learned with us.