Crisis Leadership Lessons from a Renowned Responder and Bestselling Author
“You want to be the type of crisis leader people can count on. That means you need to make showing up—the right way—one of your core principles.” – Ed Conley
Ed Conley
Author, Speaker, Crisis Leadership Coach
Ed Conley
Author, Speaker, and Crisis Leadership Coach
During a career spanning three decades, Ed led emergency management teams around the globe, tackling some of history's most significant disasters.
Ed’s disaster knowledge and expertise come from firsthand experience in the “eye-of-the-storm.” He has made decisions amid chaos, setting operational priorities and communicating with the public in the most challenging scenarios imaginable. From 9/11 to Hurricane Katrina, the 2010 Haiti Earthquake to Superstorm Sandy, and the Columbine School Shooting to the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill–Ed was there.
Throughout his years as a crisis responder, Ed honed his ability to translate theories into practices. Now he delivers observations, lessons, insights, and guidance designed to develop the next generation of crisis leaders.
Ed’s Focus:
Help the next generation of crisis leaders step up, deliver, and lead with courage and compassion when it matters most.
Encourage disaster leadership rooted in coordination, communication, relationship building, constant learning, and decisive action.
Demonstrate how leadership during a crisis can emerge from everywhere and everyone.
Present ideas in a style that makes complex concepts relatable and actionable.
Help leaders-on-the-rise adopt time-tested leadership principles.
As a writer, speaker, and coach Ed shares his knowledge with disaster management professionals, humanitarian relief newcomers, and emerging leaders across multiple industries and worldwide.
“Ed Conley has made his way around the world passionately lending his expertise and experience in disaster scenarios.”
AUTHOR
Check out Ed’s firsthand accounts and engaging insights about crisis leadership. Discover stories, strategies, and lessons to enhance your leadership journey.
SPEAKER
Ed travels the world sharing crisis leadership lessons. Learn how to bring Ed to speak at your next event.
COACH
Experience Ed’s personalized coaching style. Explore how to thrive in crisis situations, respond with compassion, and lead with conviction.
Promote The Dog Sitter
And Other Principles for Leading During Disasters
Crisis leaders never feel completely prepared. From your first response to your hundredth, you feel the same nerves, anticipation, and desire to make a difference.
But when disaster strikes, good intentions alone aren't enough.
In Promote the Dog Sitter, former FEMA responder and NATO advisor Ed Conley shares ten proven principles for acting decisively and leading dynamically throughout any disaster. Drawing upon extensive experience, Ed's eye-of-the-storm perspective shows up-and-coming leaders how to overcome setbacks, develop teams, respond compassionately, and serve with integrity.
This award-winning book is a “must-read” for those who strive to rise to the occasion when all hell breaks loose.
Readers are saying
Excellent Advice
This is a must read for anyone involved in crisis response, but equally as relevant for those in leadership positions. Ed does an exceptional job of providing experienced based advice learned over his decades of being in the thick of crisis response. He also ties in references to historical events and leaders. For those in emergency response or leadership positions, the book is a great read about prioritizing decisions and actions and working to restore communities after major catastrophes. Very enjoyable and full of wisdom.
A Go-To Leadership Playbook…Smart, Funny, Inspired.
For Conley, emergency management is more a calling than a job, and he answers the call with passion and zeal. The book explores 10 leadership tenets, beginning with a straightforward admonition to “Show Up,” and ending with—but what else? --“Come Home.” Sandwiched in between are key principles supported by 1-2-3 action plans designed to help individuals develop into their own best emergency manager. Promote the Dog Sitter’s quirky title is drawn from the outsized role of search and rescue dogs during the 9/11 response and illustrates the book’s central theme: Leadership exists at every level, and everyone working a disaster operation matters. Leadership can emerge from a most unlikely source, in a most unexpected way not outlined in a plan or written into an org chart. The person who has worked to develop positive core principles is most likely to be “made for the moment” when a crucial leadership opportunity arises.
Promote The Dog Sitter
The good, the bad, and the ugly, I find Ed's memoir to be vital lessons in leadership, perseverance and empathy, all blended into a personal love story on the work he did throughout his career. It is a must read for first responders, leadership disciples in academia or just people who like a good read. I found myself reading over and over some of the true life exploits of Ed and his teams, and especially loved his description of a "disaster tourist". Understanding the backdrops in these stories allows us to further appreciate the news stories of today's media disaster coverage.