Chairman
Crisis Management International, Behavioral Medical Interventions and Crisis Care Network
United States
Bruce Blythe is an internationally acclaimed crisis management expert. He is the owner and chairman of three companies that provide employers with a continuum of crisis preparedness, crisis response, and employee return-to-work services. Crisis Management International (Atlanta-based) is the preparedness arm of the three companies. CMI has assisted hundreds of companies worldwide with crisis and business continuity planning, training and exercising. CMI also provides workplace violence preparedness programs and threat of violence consultations through a specialty network of threat management specialists, including former FBI and Secret Service agents. Crisis Care Network (based in Grand Rapids, Michigan) responds to corporate crisis situations 1000 times per month through a North American network of crisis mental health professionals. Behavioral Medical Interventions (Minneapolis- based) accelerates employee return-to-work for workers comp and non-occupational injury cases.
Mr. Blythe has been personally involved in crises such as the 1993 World Trade Center bombing, mass murders at the U.S. Postal Service, the Oklahoma City bombing, 9/11, commercial air crashes, rescue of kidnap and ransom hostages, Hurricanes Andrew and Katrina, earthquakes, fires, floods, and reputational crises. He serves as a consultant and certified coach to numerous Fortune executives and managers in Strategic Crisis Leadership preparedness and response.
Widely regarded as a thought leader in the crisis management and business continuity industries, he is the author of Blindsided: A Manager’s Guide to Catastrophic Incidents in the Workplace. He has served in the Military Police for the U.S. Marine Corps. He’s a certified clinical psychologist and has been a consultant to the FBI on workplace violence and terrorism.
Blythe has appeared on NBC’s Today Show, CNN, ABC’s 20/20, CBS’48 Hours, CNBC, NPR and others. Fast Company Magazine published a cover-story article about Blythe’s leadership in responding to 204 companies onsite, all within three weeks following 9/11. He provides commentary in The Wall Street Journal, Newsweek, Business Week, Smart Money, New Yorker, Fortune Magazine and USA Today. He serves as a keynote presenter to fifty national and international conferences per year.
Blythe is a member of:
• ASIS International’s Crisis Management and Business Continuity Council
• U.S. Department of State’s Overseas Security Advisory Council
• Disaster Recovery Institute’s Educational Advisory Council
• The Conference Board, as Chairman of the Corporate Security, Business Continuity and Crisis
Management Conference
• Association of Traumatic Stress Specialists, six years on the Board of Directors
• NFPA 1600 Technical Committee’s Task Group on Crisis Management
• The International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies
• Association of Threat Assessment Professionals
Blythe’s areas of expertise include:
• Strategic Crisis Leadership (for Senior Executives and Crisis Managers)
• Crisis Preparedness and Response
• Workplace Violence Preparedness and Defusing Threatening Individuals
• Human Side of Crisis and Post-Incident Return to Work
• Crisis Decision-Making
General Session: Human Side of Crisis