Time for the next MWTR Blog Tour stop is with author Rachel Hamman of Bye-Bye Boardroom: Confessions from a New Breed of Stay-at-home Moms. The book is written in diary format, provides insights into the hearts and minds of almost 30 women who left the comfort of corner offices for the chaotic and most challenging positions of their lives — becoming full-time, stay-at-home moms.

She’s not your ordinary soccer mom. She has been named one of the “Most Remarkable Women” by Barbara Walter’s ABC show, The View. Rachel has been featured in Glamour magazine for her philanthropic advances and has also been recognized for her ongoing community endeavors by being tapped as one of the “Eckerd 100 Outstanding National Volunteers.”

I interviewed Rachel Hamman who shows that an unpublished writer can get there with a little networking and persistence.

How did you get started in writing?

I wrote poetry as a teenager and didn’t start writing again until 1 1/2
years ago. (Proving it’s never too late to start again!)

How did you come up with the idea for the book?

The idea for the book was taking a page out of my real life. (They do say
that truth is stranger than fiction!) After I started on the concept, I then
decided that it would be more interesting to include other short stories
from other Moms, like myself, who decided to trade in their corner office
for carpool duty.

How did you find and select contributors?

The contributors came from a variety of sources. Some were friends and some
were friends of friends. I posted request for story submissions on a few
separate mom-based websites, as well as taking out an ad in the back of
Parenting Magazine. Word of mouth proved to be the most successful method.

I am actually taking story submissions for my next book, Mortified Mommies. The stories I am seeking are ones where your ordinarily cherubic child did or said something to embarrass you. If you have ever been in the spot where your child made you laugh so hard you that you cried or he or she had you turning several shades of crimson, then no is your chance to get published! Visit my website: www.RachelHamman.com for more details.

How did you get recognized on The View?

Yes, I was on The View a few years back. I was nominated by my sister for “The Most Remarkable Woman” segment. They selected four women from across the country who had started different charitable organizations. They flew us to New York, took us to Bloomingdales to dress us for our appearance on the show. The charity received a $5,000 grant and I received a weekend with no children!

Did you have an agent before publishing your first book? If so, how did you select the person and why did you decide to have one?

I did not have an agent for the book, but it was not for lack of trying. I
had approached several agents with the idea for the book, and was given a
polite “Thank you, but no thank you” form letter. About the same time, a
friend of mine in the publishing industry gave my partial manuscript to
Capital Books and they loved the idea. So, it was a case of having friends
who happened to be pulling for me!

Thank you, Rachel!

Crises aren’t limited to computer breaches, hurricanes, and tsunamis. Unfortunately, more crises have occurred in the past few years than in the 20 years before that. Too many organizations react to crisis instead of making crisis management a part of its organization like human resources and finance.

The unusual way of doing business in the past has become the normal way of doing business today. Crisis doesn’t have boundaries, so it can affect a company across the board rather than in silos.

Mitroff works to change attitudes and philosophy required to ensure a company correctly implements crisis management rather than addressing the basics of crisis management. The basics won’t matter if companies have the wrong attitude.

According to Mitroff, organizations that adopt the seven challenges improve their chances of riding out any crisis that occurs. Organizations also include public, government, and non-profits. Before 9/11, people thought the idea of a “flying bomb” was unbelievable. Unfortunately, that wasn’t the case and it taught organizations a valuable lesson: be prepared for anything even far-fetched scenarios.

You’d think 9/11 would encourage organizations to take a proactive stance on crisis management, but just two years after 9/11 — companies returned to their old ways and prepared to handle only few crises: natural disasters and fire. Crises have changed as they’re not just “normal systems accidents,” which are accidental breakdowns as a result of very complicated technology.

Seven competencies help an organization survive a crisis and maybe come out of it better than before the crisis. They are:

• Right Heart: Emotional IQ – Learn how to get a better handle on emotions and how to deal with defense mechanisms that expectedly appear when crises occur.
• Right Thinking: Creative IQ – Bigger picture thinking that requires thinking outside of outside the box.
• Right Social and Political Skills: Social and Political IQ – Organizations look at themselves as one big entity instead of departments and that they’re only in one business. All businesses are in all businesses. For example, a university is also in the food business (cafeteria) and facilities business (dorms).
• Right Integration: Integrative IQ – Crisis management can’t be reduced to tools and techniques. Instead it’s based on assumptions as there endless solutions.
• Right Technical Skills: Technical IQ – Must “think like a controlled paranoid,” which means exploring every scenario without tossing it out as preposterous.
• Right Transfer: Aesthetic IQ – Included crisis management as part of an organization rather than as its own department or put in a silo.
• Right Soul: Spiritual IQ – Organization accept the spiritual, physical, and mental areas exist together not separately. It lets organizations deal with problems that result from unnaturally splitting up these areas.

The book influences the reader to look at crisis management differently and to convince the organization of the importance of getting on board. Mitroff shares chilling stories about crises and how companies handled them, which clearly illustrate the points the reader needs to understand about crisis management.

At times, Mitroff’s writing sounds like a college textbook and loses the reader. However, considering the complex topic, Mitroff does a fine job as many parts of the book absorb the reader. The book targets executives and managers who buy-in to the philosophy and can make a difference in their companies.

Title: Why Some Companies Emerge Stronger and Better from a Crisis
Author: Ian I. Mitroff
Publisher: AMACOM
ISBN: 0814408508
Date: January 2005
Format: Hardcover
Pages: 238
Cover Price: USD: $27.95 Amazon: $17.61