The deeply rooted belief in the importance of public leadership is accompanied by quick and often shallow assessments of leadership performance. Such assessments never arrive more quickly than in the wake of crises and disasters-these episodes make for instant winners (Giuliani) and losers (Bush). These assessments are necessarily shallow, as the public can only judge leaders by what they see. While symbolic performance is important (if only because it can arouse the public), it is not the only performance dimension by which we should assess crisis leadership. In this article, we reflect on the many tasks that strategic leaders are called to perform, and we offer a comprehensive framework for leadership performance in times of crisis.

In the wake of the 11 September 2001 attacks, crisis management has become reprioritized in both the public and the corporate sector. The authors argue that crisis simulations can and should be a crucial feature of preparatory efforts to deal with crises. Drawing from crisis management literature, and their own experience with crisis simulations, they explore how different types of crisis simulations can help crisis managers to prepare for “traditional” disasters as well as modern crises and contingencies.

Conventional thinking in emergency and crisis management focuses on the application of codified procedures to unforeseen contingencies. Modern society's increased dependence on critical infrastructures and the emerging vulnerabilities of these large-scale networks create challenges that are hard to meet with conventional tools of crisis management. This article discusses the inherent vulnerabilities and explores the requirements of effective preparation for escalatory network breakdowns.