Crises don’t wait for business hours. Illness, loss, leadership changes, or unexpected disruptions can shake even the best-run teams.
Readiness isn’t just personal, it’s professional. How leaders respond determines whether an organization bends or breaks.
When life disrupts work, will you and your people be ready?
Most organizations plan for cybersecurity threats, power failures, or supply chain breakdowns, but not for human disruption.
When a key leader or team member experiences loss, illness, or personal crisis, communication falters, projects stall, and trust erodes.
And if that person is you — the leader, the decision-maker, the one others rely on — the impact can ripple across clients, revenue, and culture in days.
Readiness protects people, performance, and peace of mind… at every level of leadership.
See how ready your organization is to handle death, diagnosis, disaster or disruption with our FREE assessment. In 5 minutes or less you’ll know where your gaps are.
Meet the readiness partners
We created Compassionate Response Consulting (CRC) to help leaders and teams navigate the human side of disruption, and to close the gap between emotional impact and operational continuity.
Michelle Arentz, Workforce Strategist & “Workforce MD”
Michelle diagnoses and treats leadership, team, and culture challenges before they become business emergencies. She brings decades of experience guiding organizations through the tough stuff, from succession crises and restructuring to burnout and breakdown. Her focus: helping leaders respond with clarity and compassion when the pressure hits.
Maureen Desmond, Change & Loss Consultant
A coach and consultant specializing in grief, change, and loss, Maureen helps leaders and teams process disruption without losing focus or stability. She’s spent her career guiding people through the transitions that test identity, purpose, and leadership presence. Her focus: helping humans lead with heart when life gets messy.
Together, we bridge the space between business resilience and human recovery.
The result: organizations that protect performance and the people who drive it.
CRC also offers personal Readiness Playbooks for leaders who want to protect their families and livelihood, not just their organizations.
Readiness isn’t a policy. It’s a practice.
Real life doesn’t stop at the office door.
When personal and professional worlds collide, the most resilient organizations are the ones that plan for people, not just processes.
Through CRC, we help organizations:
Support employees through life disruptions without losing momentum
Equip managers to respond with compassion and confidence
Build continuity plans that balance care with accountability
Protect culture, communication, and client trust when the unexpected strikes
Because your people are the business, and how you respond defines your culture.
Practical tools for life’s inevitabilities
Readiness applies at home and in the workplace, which is why CRC offers both individual and organizational tools.
The CRC Readiness Playbooks make it simple for leaders and their teams to prepare before crisis hits, at home or at work.
Each guide helps you capture critical details, define next steps, and communicate clearly when it matters most.
For Individuals & Families:
Solo Readiness Playbook: Protect your livelihood and peace of mind when you’re suddenly unavailable.
Partnered Playbook: Coordinate decisions, access, and next steps across finances, health, and home.
Family & Legacy Editions: Simplify planning, reduce chaos, and ensure loved ones have what they need.
For Solopreneurs, Fractionals and Independent Consultants:
Business Continuity Playbook: Safeguard your team, clients, and operations when disruption strikes (ideal for solopreneurs and small businesses). Aligns personal readiness with professional continuity, because the best business plans protect people first.
The Readiness Playbooks were built by consultants who’ve lived through the chaos, learned from it, and turned it into a repeatable system for others.
Readiness builds trust and protects what you’ve built
Leaders who plan ahead aren’t just protecting themselves, they’re strengthening their entire organization.
When life inevitably disrupts business, readiness ensures:
Decisions are clear and stress doesn’t rule the room
Clients and teams stay informed and confident
Leaders show empathy and decisiveness under pressure
Culture and credibility stay intact, even in crisis
Readiness isn’t fear-based… it’s forward-thinking. It’s what resilient leaders do before they have to.
Start the conversation about integrating human readiness into your leadership or team strategy.
We’ll help you strengthen your organization’s continuity, from the boardroom to the break room.
Build a culture that’s ready for anything
“Retaining disengaged employees through compassionate practices saves an organization about $9,000 per employee annually, avoiding the much larger costs of replacing staff.”
— Gallup