Face Forward: Leading Courageously in Crisis

We are living through a seismic event with far flung consequences. The Covid-19 pandemic has upended virtually every aspect of our lives and our society, and the turbulence is only increasing. The multi-stage crisis is also creating other crises and opportunities, including widespread economic disruption and the campaign for justice and equality.

How are we to lead—our organizations, communities, and families as well as ourselves—in this extraordinary moment?

FAN is proud to welcome back Nancy Koehn, Ph.D., one of our most compelling speakers on the topic of crisis leadership. Her 2017 FAN talk on her book Forged in Crisis: The Power of Courageous Leadership in Turbulent Times was riveting, dynamic, and keenly astute, and it stirred the hearts and minds of those present. For this webinar, Prof. Koehn will present critical tools, insights, and behaviors for leading courageously in crisis. She will examine several “rules of the road” for helping you, your team, and other followers navigate through the Covid-19 crisis, the consequent economic fallout, and the campaign for justice and equality. Prof. Koehn will offer lessons from iconic crisis leaders in history, such as Nelson Mandela, Abraham Lincoln, Frederick Douglass, Ernest Shackleton, and Rachel Carson, and will conclude by exploring how to lead for the next stage of this multi-phase crisis and how to take care of yourself in this context.

Prof. Koehn is an historian at the Harvard Business School where she holds the James E. Robinson chair of Business Administration. She has coached leaders from many organizations and speaks frequently at the World Economic Forum in Davos, the Aspen Ideas Festival, and the World Business Forum. She writes for The New York Times, The Washington Post, and the Harvard Business Review Online. She is also a regular commentator on National Public Radio and has appeared on many national television programs.

A Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Stanford University, Prof. Koehn earned a Master of Public Policy from Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government before taking her MA and Ph.D. in History from Harvard.

Prof. Koehn will deliver a 30-minute presentation, and will then be joined by Tom Flemma, Ph.D., Head of School at North Shore Country Day School, for a Q&A session. An historian by training, Dr. Flemma has worked in schools his entire career, after earning his BA at Stanford and MA and Ph.D. at the University of Virginia. For seventeen years he worked at the Hotchkiss School in Connecticut, where he taught American history, coached, lived in the dormitory, and served as Associate Head of School. In 2016 he moved to Winnetka to become the 9th Head of School at NSCDS, a JK-12 school that just celebrated its centennial.

REGISTRATION REQUIRED for all FAN webinar events. This event will be recorded and available later on our website and YouTube channel. 

BONUS AFTER-HOURS EVENT! Attendees who purchase a copy of Prof. Koehn’s book Forged in Crisis from FAN’s partner bookseller The Book Stall are invited to attend a private 30-minute AFTER-HOURS event hosted by Prof. Koehn that will start immediately after the webinar.

NOTE: The link to register for the AFTER-HOURS will appear in your email receipt from The Book Stall. Please be sure to look for it!