Understanding Crises:
A Crisis Leadership Toolkit

How to use this toolkit.

Navigating crises effectively is a fundamental skill for higher education leaders. This toolkit is designed to build your background knowledge on crisis leadership, providing you with the insights and strategies necessary to lead your institution through challenging times.

Drawing from Crisis Leadership for Boards and Presidents by Terrence MacTaggart, this toolkit will equip you with the foundational knowledge and practical tools needed to lead with confidence and competence, ensuring your institution can withstand and emerge stronger from any crisis.

This toolkit is part of a series of resources to help your board and leadership anticipate crises:

The components of a crisis.

Anatomy of a Crisis

Awareness of a Crisis

Stages of a Crisis

Impact of a Crisis

Addressing a crisis.

Managing Versus Navigating a Crisis

Developing a Practical Crisis Strategy

Creating Crisis Task Groups and Crisis Teams

Case study exercises for boards.

All of the colleges and universities in these cases are fictitious amalgams drawn from multiple institutions.

Legacy College I: Where Did the Money Go?

Legacy College II: Impact of the Pandemic

Regional State University: Fraternities and Sexual Abuse

Statewide System: No-Confidence Vote

Related resources.

Crisis Leadership for Boards and Presidents

Crisis Leadership for Boards and Presidents

Anticipating, Managing, and Leading Beyond Pandemics, Disruptions, and Ethical Failures

Terrence MacTaggart, 2020 | Book

This book is a how-to guide designed to enable boards of trustees and presidents to lead their institutions through major crises. Terrence MacTaggart describes the kinds of crises common in the higher ed sector and offers practical advice to boards and leaders on how to anticipate crises before they occur, how to prepare for the unavoidable ones, and how to navigate crises once they appear. And as his use of illustrative cases makes clear—they will inevitably appear. Ultimately, the key takeaway: Make the best use of a crisis to build a more alert, sensitive, and resilient board and leadership culture moving forward.