When leadership stakes are high, unclear direction kills performance.

In this episode of Resilient Foundations, Rebecca breaks down why teams don't fail because they ignore instructions, they fail because they don't understand the why behind them. From ransomware crises to restructuring announcements to everyday status reports, the difference between compliance and commitment is clarity. If your team doesn't understand the purpose behind their work, they'll optimize for safety, politics, or box-checking instead of outcomes.

This episode gives leaders a realistic framework to eliminate fear, reduce burnout, and drive independent decision-making, without micromanagement.

If you want a team that pivots under pressure, makes better judgment calls, and performs when you're not in the room, this episode is for you.

#resilientfoundations #leadership #decisionmaking #corporateleadership

00:23 The Importance of Understanding 'Why'

01:26 Motivating Teams with Purpose

01:59 Examples of Effective Communication

03:44 Handling Crisis Situations

07:05 Strategic Changes and Realignment

15:02 Framework for Effective Leadership

23:26 Conclusion and Final Thoughts

Check out more episodes of Resilient Foundations:

Inside a $135B Crisis: https://youtu.be/XrYFesIn3M8

How Leaders Make Decisions Under Pressure: https://youtu.be/41wc9aghTSk

What Makes a Situation High Stakes? https://youtu.be/Gpudb3kWhkE

Leader who drives strategy, execution, and change | Transformational Delivery and Operations Leader | Information Security & Technology Executive | Risk Management Expert

Rebecca Plantz is a seasoned executive leader with more than 25 years of experience leading a variety of high-stakes crises and enterprise initiatives to achieve business transformation. Her experience in leading large, cross-functional teams to deliver innovative technology, AI-enabled platforms and operations, risk management programs, information security programs, and operational resilience resulted in a wealth of expertise and toolsets that will be shared.

Tough times create great leaders. Having led executives and front-line teams to survive more than 750 crises, Rebecca has honed what it takes to prepare for and lead in circumstances that require Olympic-level skills and readiness.

Website – resilientfoundations.com

LinkedIn – www.linkedin.com/in/rebeccaplantz/

TikTok – resilientfoundations

Send a Message - rebeccaplantz@gmail.com

YouTube Channel - www.youtube.com/@ResilientFoundations

When fear spreads faster than facts, leadership is tested

In this episode of Resilient Foundations, Rebecca breaks down the FUD Factor (Fear, Uncertainty, and Doubt) and why it shows up in every organization, every team, every crisis. FUD isn't weakness or resistance. It's a human survival response triggered when signals don't make sense and leaders go quiet.

You'll learn how silence, vague reassurance, and overconfidence unintentionally fuel speculation, and what calm, credible leaders do instead. Rebecca introduces a practical diffusion framework that helps leaders replace rumors with reality, slow escalation, and stabilize teams even when certainty isn't possible.

If you lead people during change, disruption, layoffs, outages, or crisis, this episode gives you clear, usable tools to protect trust, performance, and morale.

#resilientfoundations #leadership #decisionmaking #corporateleadership

00:00 Introduction to Resilient Foundations

00:29 Understanding the FUD Factor

01:18 The Human Response to FUD

02:05 The Role of Leaders in Managing FUD

04:33 Communication Strategies to Combat FUD

07:30 Practical Examples and Case Studies

09:47 The Diffusal Framework

14:17 Final Thoughts on Leadership and FUD

17:08 Conclusion

Check out more episodes of Resilient Foundations:

Inside a $135B Crisis: https://youtu.be/XrYFesIn3M8

How Leaders Make Decisions Under Pressure: https://youtu.be/41wc9aghTSk

What Makes a Situation High Stakes? https://youtu.be/Gpudb3kWhkE

Leader who drives strategy, execution, and change | Transformational Delivery and Operations Leader | Information Security & Technology Executive | Risk Management Expert

Rebecca Plantz is a seasoned executive leader with more than 25 years of experience leading a variety of high-stakes crises and enterprise initiatives to achieve business transformation. Her experience in leading large, cross-functional teams to deliver innovative technology, AI-enabled platforms and operations, risk management programs, information security programs, and operational resilience resulted in a wealth of expertise and toolsets that will be shared.

Tough times create great leaders. Having led executives and front-line teams to survive more than 750 crises, Rebecca has honed what it takes to prepare for and lead in circumstances that require Olympic-level skills and readiness.

Website – resilientfoundations.com

LinkedIn – www.linkedin.com/in/rebeccaplantz/

TikTok – resilientfoundations

Send a Message - rebeccaplantz@gmail.com

YouTube Channel - www.youtube.com/@ResilientFoundations

High-stakes. High risk. No room for error.

In this episode of Resilient Foundations, Doug Hall returns to unpack the chaos, complexity, and ultimate success of leading a global regulatory compliance initiative in the financial services industry. From dodging brand disaster to interpreting ambiguous laws across Brazil, the EU, Australia, and beyond, Doug shares how he became the only person in the company who understood the entire regulatory landscape...and why that made all the difference.

Whether you're navigating open banking, PSD2, FDX, or large-scale compliance projects, this is a real-world masterclass in cross-functional leadership, risk mitigation, and systems design under pressure.

#resilientfoundations #leadership #decisionmaking #corporateleadership

00:32 Overview of Open Banking Regulation

01:19 Challenges in Compliance Across Regions

01:47 Consumer Impact and Data Security

04:01 Technical Aspects of Screen Scraping

05:54 Top Highlights of the Project

07:38 Navigating Regulatory Mandates

13:29 Designing a Global Compliance System

19:57 Battles with Standards Boards

22:57 Setting the Tone with Humor

23:50 Internal Organizational Challenges

26:37 Navigating Regulatory Requirements

27:37 Battles in Brazil

31:02 Redesigning for Compliance

32:46 Leadership and High Stakes

39:51 Celebrating Success

42:59 Final Thoughts and Lessons Learned

Check out more episodes of Resilient Foundations:

Inside a $135B Crisis: https://youtu.be/XrYFesIn3M8

How Leaders Make Decisions Under Pressure: https://youtu.be/41wc9aghTSk

What Makes a Situation High Stakes? https://youtu.be/Gpudb3kWhkE

Leader who drives strategy, execution, and change | Transformational Delivery and Operations Leader | Information Security & Technology Executive | Risk Management Expert

Rebecca Plantz is a seasoned executive leader with more than 25 years of experience leading a variety of high-stakes crises and enterprise initiatives to achieve business transformation. Her experience in leading large, cross-functional teams to deliver innovative technology, AI-enabled platforms and operations, risk management programs, information security programs, and operational resilience resulted in a wealth of expertise and toolsets that will be shared.

Tough times create great leaders. Having led executives and front-line teams to survive more than 750 crises, Rebecca has honed what it takes to prepare for and lead in circumstances that require Olympic-level skills and readiness.

Website – resilientfoundations.com

LinkedIn – www.linkedin.com/in/rebeccaplantz/

TikTok – resilientfoundations

Send a Message - rebeccaplantz@gmail.com

YouTube Channel - www.youtube.com/@ResilientFoundations

Are you solving the real problem, or just putting out fires?

In this episode of Resilient Foundations, Rebecca uncovers the hidden traps leaders fall into when they're solving symptoms instead of root causes. From contact center chaos to engineering bottlenecks, she shares real-world examples of how great leadership demands deeper diagnosis, and not just quicker decisions.

If you're facing recurring issues, missed deadlines, or endless finger-pointing in your organization, this episode will challenge how you define problems and give you practical tools to create long-term, scalable solutions.

Listen in to learn how to:

- Identify when you're solving symptoms, not problems

- Use process mapping and root cause analysis to unlock clarity

- Balance speed vs. accuracy under pressure

- Spot hidden workflow friction (and how it kills delivery timelines)

- Ask better questions that shift your team out of reaction mode

- Build leadership credibility by diagnosing smarter, not faster

#resilientfoundations #leadership #decisionmaking #corporateleadership

00:00 Introduction to Resilient Foundations

00:58 Identifying Symptoms vs. Root Causes

02:04 Case Study: Reducing Contact Volume

03:25 Challenges in Problem Solving

04:14 Rewarding Diligence Over Speed

05:15 Training Leaders to Dig Deeper

11:10 Frameworks for Root Cause Analysis

18:51 Creating a Culture of Open Communication

20:47 Conclusion and Final Thoughts

Check out more episodes of Resilient Foundations:

Inside a $135B Crisis: https://youtu.be/XrYFesIn3M8

How Leaders Make Decisions Under Pressure: https://youtu.be/41wc9aghTSk

What Makes a Situation High Stakes? https://youtu.be/Gpudb3kWhkE

Leader who drives strategy, execution, and change | Transformational Delivery and Operations Leader | Information Security & Technology Executive | Risk Management Expert

Rebecca Plantz is a seasoned executive leader with more than 25 years of experience leading a variety of high-stakes crises and enterprise initiatives to achieve business transformation. Her experience in leading large, cross-functional teams to deliver innovative technology, AI-enabled platforms and operations, risk management programs, information security programs, and operational resilience resulted in a wealth of expertise and toolsets that will be shared.

Tough times create great leaders. Having led executives and front-line teams to survive more than 750 crises, Rebecca has honed what it takes to prepare for and lead in circumstances that require Olympic-level skills and readiness.

Website – resilientfoundations.com

LinkedIn – www.linkedin.com/in/rebeccaplantz/

TikTok – resilientfoundations

Send a Message - rebeccaplantz@gmail.com

YouTube Channel - www.youtube.com/@ResilientFoundations

What started as a quick integration fix became a full-blown crisis touching every department, every system, and every leader. In this episode, Rebecca and Doug Hall break down the tangled web of "Project Peppa"—a cautionary tale of bad data, systemic failures, and how leadership steers through chaos.

Doug shares how a data integration failure triggered a Priority Zero incident, forcing manual executive call trees in the middle of the night and how that emergency led to uncovering systemic issues spanning HR, facilities, IT, legal, finance, and beyond. Through wit, personal experiences, and wisdom, Rebecca and Doug walk us through crisis leadership, stakeholder alignment, and the tough calls behind real digital transformation.

Whether you're a project leader, CIO, or IT stakeholder, this episode is provides lessons on resilience, data governance, and the real cost of ignoring infrastructure problems.

#resilientfoundations #leadership #decisionmaking #corporateleadership

00:36 Project "Peppa": The Unexpected Challenge

01:39 The Crisis Unfolds

04:39 Systemic Issues and Data Quality

07:38 The Complexity of Data Integration

11:41 Stakeholder Management and Solutions

16:59 Data Governance and Ownership

26:39 Project Outcomes and Reflections

Check out more episodes of Resilient Foundations:

Inside a $135B Crisis: https://youtu.be/XrYFesIn3M8

How Leaders Make Decisions Under Pressure: https://youtu.be/41wc9aghTSk

What Makes a Situation High Stakes? https://youtu.be/Gpudb3kWhkE

Leader who drives strategy, execution, and change | Transformational Delivery and Operations Leader | Information Security & Technology Executive | Risk Management Expert

Rebecca Plantz is a seasoned executive leader with more than 25 years of experience leading a variety of high-stakes crises and enterprise initiatives to achieve business transformation. Her experience in leading large, cross-functional teams to deliver innovative technology, AI-enabled platforms and operations, risk management programs, information security programs, and operational resilience resulted in a wealth of expertise and toolsets that will be shared.

Tough times create great leaders. Having led executives and front-line teams to survive more than 750 crises, Rebecca has honed what it takes to prepare for and lead in circumstances that require Olympic-level skills and readiness.

Website – resilientfoundations.com

LinkedIn – www.linkedin.com/in/rebeccaplantz/

TikTok – resilientfoundations

Send a Message - rebeccaplantz@gmail.com

YouTube Channel - www.youtube.com/@ResilientFoundations

Bad status reporting is a leading cause of high-stakes situations and project failures in any organization. This episode of Resilient Foundations explains why leaders are often blindsided by problems, not because of new issues, but due to delayed or inaccurate information. Rebecca outlines how poor reporting is typically a systems, leadership, and culture problem, rather than a failing of individuals.

She offers advice on creating a safe environment for teams to report risks early, understanding the critical difference between green, yellow, and red statuses, and modeling effective communication. Learn how to identify underlying reasons for inaccurate status, implement clear criteria, focus on key metrics, foster collaboration, and avoid going from green directly to crisis mode. Help improve your organization's resilience and project success by mastering transparent and timely status updates.

#resilientfoundations #leadership #decisionmaking #corporateleadership

00:00 Introduction to Bad Status Reporting

01:20 The Impact of Poor Reporting

01:59 Identifying Risks Early

04:20 Encouraging Honest Reporting

04:51 Optimism vs. Pessimism in Reporting

05:33 Defining Status Criteria

08:24 Granularity and Key Indicators

09:35 Protecting Relationships in Reporting

14:45 Leadership's Role in Reporting

22:35 Conclusion and Next Steps

Check out more episodes of Resilient Foundations:

Inside a $135B Crisis: https://youtu.be/XrYFesIn3M8

How Leaders Make Decisions Under Pressure: https://youtu.be/41wc9aghTSk

What Makes a Situation High Stakes? https://youtu.be/Gpudb3kWhkE

Leader who drives strategy, execution, and change | Transformational Delivery and Operations Leader | Information Security & Technology Executive | Risk Management Expert

Rebecca Plantz is a seasoned executive leader with more than 25 years of experience leading a variety of high-stakes crises and enterprise initiatives to achieve business transformation. Her experience in leading large, cross-functional teams to deliver innovative technology, AI-enabled platforms and operations, risk management programs, information security programs, and operational resilience resulted in a wealth of expertise and toolsets that will be shared.

Tough times create great leaders. Having led executives and front-line teams to survive more than 750 crises, Rebecca has honed what it takes to prepare for and lead in circumstances that require Olympic-level skills and readiness.

Website – resilientfoundations.com

LinkedIn – www.linkedin.com/in/rebeccaplantz/

TikTok – resilientfoundations

Send a Message - rebeccaplantz@gmail.com

YouTube Channel - www.youtube.com/@ResilientFoundations

They had board approval to take down a Fortune 50 website for 20 minutes and people inside the company were literally taking bets it wouldn't come back.

In this episode of Resilient Foundations, Rebecca and Doug break down the leadership, risk decisions, and technical innovation that made a 300M-row migration and 300-app cutover land in 17 minutes with zero defects. They explain how the team handled 1M transactions per minute, built a strategy for capturing and replaying live traffic, and even created an innovative multi-threading approach to keep up with the migration load.

Beyond the tech, the episode is a masterclass in leadership: stakeholder alignment from day one, daily tradeoff negotiations, risk sign-offs, scripted rehearsals like a Broadway show, and the culture of trust that helped a "storming" team perform at an all-star level.

#resilientfoundations #leadership #decisionmaking #corporateleadership

00:38 Overview of the Massive Data Migration Project

01:08 Challenges and Complexities of the Project

03:49 Stakeholder Management and Lessons Learned

05:25 Innovations and Key Highlights

08:19 High-Stakes Moments and Risk Management

13:46 Technical Execution and Multithreading Innovation

17:01 Testing in Production and Unexpected Discoveries

22:30 Rehearsing the Cutover

26:49 Overcoming Logistical Challenges

27:24 Aligning Business and Technical Goals

30:18 The Big Bang Theory Decision

34:11 Team Dynamics and Personal Growth

46:12 Successful Project Execution

48:42 Reflecting on the Journey

Rebecca Plantz is a seasoned executive leader with more than 25 years of experience leading a variety of high-stakes crises and enterprise initiatives to achieve business transformation. Her experience in leading large, cross-functional teams to deliver innovative technology, AI-enabled platforms and operations, risk management programs, information security programs, and operational resilience resulted in a wealth of expertise and toolsets that will be shared.

Tough times create great leaders. Having led executives and front-line teams to survive more than 750 crises, Rebecca has honed what it takes to prepare for and lead in circumstances that require Olympic-level skills and readiness.

Website – resilientfoundations.com

LinkedIn – www.linkedin.com/in/rebeccaplantz/

TikTok – resilientfoundations

Send a Message: rebeccaplantz@gmail.com

Channel: www.youtube.com/@ResilientFoundations

AI is changing the game for cybersecurity, but are most companies ready?

In this eye-opening episode of Resilient Foundations, Rebecca sits down with cybersecurity expert and SANS Institute instructor Shawn Chakravarty to unpack the evolving threat landscape in a world powered by artificial intelligence. From the rise of "shadow AI" to how insiders and external attackers are weaponizing generative tools like ChatGPT and Claude, this conversation is packed with hard truths and advice for leaders, security teams, and innovators alike.

Shawn breaks down the top three AI risks every company should be tracking, how defensive teams need to adapt, and why your AI policy matters more than ever. Whether you're a business leader, IT manager, or just AI-curious, this episode delivers urgent suggestions to future-proof your cybersecurity strategy.

#resilientfoundations #leadership #decisionmaking #corporateleadership

01:04 Current Cybersecurity Threats

01:51 Top Risks in AI and Cybersecurity

02:44 Shadow AI and Security Policies

05:26 AI in Blue Teaming and Defense

06:50 Red Teaming and AI Tools

09:03 AI in Social Engineering

14:26 Leadership and AI Risk Management

20:58 The Importance of Listening as a Leader

21:58 Celebrating Wins and Handling Mistakes

22:41 Managing High-Stress Situations

24:18 Building Trust Within Teams

25:28 Unique Challenges in Security Leadership

29:29 The Role of AI in Leadership

36:02 Upcoming Events and Learning Opportunities

37:32 Final Thoughts

Website – resilientfoundations.com

LinkedIn – www.linkedin.com/in/rebeccaplantz/

TikTok – resilientfoundations

More Info

View Email: rebeccaplantz@gmail.com

Channel: www.youtube.com/@ResilientFoundations

Rebecca Plantz is a seasoned executive leader with more than 25 years of experience leading a variety of high-stakes crises and enterprise initiatives to achieve business transformation. Her experience in leading large, cross-functional teams to deliver innovative technology, AI-enabled platforms and operations, risk management programs, information security programs, and operational resilience resulted in a wealth of expertise and toolsets that will be shared.

Tough times create great leaders. Having led executives and front-line teams to survive more than 750 crises, Rebecca has honed what it takes to prepare for and lead in circumstances that require Olympic-level skills and readiness.