A security incident. A missing employee. A sudden regulatory crackdown. These aren't hypotheticals in volatile markets. They're real threats that can destroy your business overnight. This briefing teaches you how to assess risks when information is scarce, protect your team without overreacting, and make decisions under fire when there's no playbook.
Most crisis preparation is theater. Companies write emergency response plans that assume clear information, functioning institutions, and rational actors. Then a real crisis hits—a staff member disappears, armed groups block your supply route, or a political shift forces you to evacuate—and none of those assumptions hold. You can't reach local authorities. Your insurance company won't return calls. Your team is panicking, your investors are demanding answers, and you're making life-or-death decisions with incomplete information and no time to think.
The difference between organizations that survive these moments and those that collapse isn't resources or connections. It's preparation for ambiguity. You need to know how to assess threats when official channels go silent, how to protect your people without triggering the very attention you're trying to avoid, and how to make tactical decisions under pressure that don't box you into worse situations later. Standard crisis frameworks break down in fragile environments because they're built for stable ones. You need different tools, different instincts, and different protocols.
This briefing walks you through real crisis scenarios that destroy unprepared organizations. You'll learn how to build early warning systems that flag threats before they escalate, how to structure decision-making when communication breaks down, and how to protect your team's safety without abandoning your mission. Whether you're operating in a region where security incidents are common or just expanding into markets where the rules can change overnight, this session prepares you for the moments when everything goes wrong at once.
John Cobb has operated businesses and advised organizations through cartel violence, political instability, employee detentions, and forced relocations. He's made decisions under fire in environments where institutional support is weak and mistakes have consequences you can't undo. He's evacuated teams from deteriorating security situations and helped organizations maintain operations through coups, protests, and sudden regulatory shifts.
This briefing isn't built from case studies in a university library. It's built from the moments when plans failed and improvisation under pressure determined whether people made it home safely.
This briefing is available as a private session for organizations, leadership teams, investor networks, and accelerator cohorts operating in or expanding to high-risk environments. John tailors the content to your specific operational context, regional risks, and team composition. Sessions can be delivered in-person or virtually, with scenario-based exercises and confidential Q&A for situations your organization is currently navigating.
Private briefings work well for companies with distributed teams in fragile markets, investor groups conducting due diligence on emerging market opportunities, or organizations reassessing their crisis preparedness after a near-miss incident. The session can be configured as a standalone workshop or integrated into broader security and operational risk training.
If your team operates where standard crisis plans don't apply, contact us to discuss format, scheduling, and pricing. Group rates available for organizations booking multiple briefings.
Available Languages: English, Spanish, Portuguese