Business
In this episode of the Managing Uncertainty Podcast, Bryghtpath Principal & Chief Executive Bryan Strawser discusses making the case for your business continuity program with your senior executives. Topics discussed include: bridging the gap from aspiration to action as a business continuity leader in your organization, positioning your argument, using metrics and benefits to bolster your argument for investment, aligning your program against organizational objectives, and overcoming objections in the discussion. Related Episodes & Blog Posts Blog Post: How to sell your business continuity program to senior executives Blog Post: Making the Case for your Business Continuity Program Episode #81: When to bring in a consultant and use them effectively Episode #84: Making the case to Leadership Episode Transcript Hello, and Welcome to the Managing Uncertainty podcast. This is Bryan Strawser, Principal and Chief Executive here at Bryghtpath. I want to talk, in today’s episode, about making the case for your business continuity program. You may not know this, but by 2025, 70% of CEOs, according to Gartner, are predicted to place organizational resilience as a top priority for their company’s strategic basic objectives. That means your CEO is likely, in the next few years, going to place organizational resilience as a top priority for your company. So with resiliency being thrust in the limelight in the way that it is, many business continuity professionals see their next step … might see their next step to sit back and wait for budget money just to rain down on the program, because that’s how it works, right? I think your wait might take longer than you may expect. I can’t deny it excites me to see our profession gain a new level of visibility and traction as resiliency becomes more important to CEOs. But having spent 21 years in the trenches of corporate America, I know there’s a lot of work to be done to get from the idea of a resiliency mandate like this, to building a business ecosystem that’s prepared to respond to tomorrow’s next issue, your next disruption. A lot of work, a lot of that work centers around convincing the people at the top, your C-suite executives, your top management, as the ISO standards call it, and your board of directors to invest money where it’s needed. Your board knows what they want strategically, but are they really ready to make that spend in support of your program? So it’s your job as a business continuity leader, to help them bridge the gap from aspiration to action. I want to talk about exactly how to do that. Let’s talk about perspective. If you talk to any marketer, they will tell you the key to making the sale is to get deep into the mind of your target audience. What keeps them up at night? What particular challenges and concerns are facing them at the moment? If they could just press an easy button, the Staples Easy Button, what does it do? If you can answer those questions, you’ll have the insight you need to perfectly position your program, your product, or service as the answer to their woes. It’s not any different, as we think about that when it comes to selling your business continuity program to your executive leaders and board in your organization. The first step is to get buy-in for your business continuity program strategy is to ensure that it ladders u