Welcome back to the Disruption Prep for Leaders series. This series has proven to be remarkably popular, and that shouldn’t be a surprise. Our entire world feels more chaotic and disruptive than it did a few months ago, and that’s true regardless of your political leanings. We are seeing major shifts in every aspect of what we consider normal, including massive tariffs between traditional allies, peace negotiations that are not including traditional global partners, and remember how we’ve been talking about UAP for over a year now? Yeah, a Congressional Oversight Committee Task Force has been struck and it’s promising to really spill the tea (as the kids say these days) on this topic over the next 6 months. People everywhere are feeling nervous, and are looking for ways to feel in control of their fate, and this series helps leaders control what you can in such a way that prepares you to deal with what you can’t.
In part 1, we spoke of the importance of preserving your cognitive bandwidth by ensuring basic needs are always met. In part 2, we described how just one bag can make the difference between thriving or not in a disruption. In part 3, we talked about the essentials to put in that bag, and in this part we’re going to wrap up our packing list with some other items you may find incredibly helpful to consider. In our final part, next week, we’ll be discussing about the most important step you can take to prepare yourself to lead through disruption, but first, let’s get to the final bits of your packing list.
The Rule of Threes can help ensure that no matter where you are, you have the basics you need to keep your body functioning. Clean air, clothing and shelter, food and water are all covered by the rule of 3s. But, you aren’t being dropped into the middle of the jungle with the expectation that a sharp stick and some moxie will help you make it out - you are a leader in 2025, and that means a cell phone is likely a lot more useful to you than a sharp stick (but keep the moxie - that’s always good to have).
This isn't just an academic exercise for us. Before COVID, we had to use our bags in the worst kind of emergency we've ever experienced - a threat assessment job was mishandled by the police, and the end result was the author being in the crosshairs of a very violently unwell individual. We had to leave our home with 30 minutes notice and live out of our bags for weeks. To say it was disruptive is an understatement, but it would have been far worse if we didn't have our bags. The details of this misadventure are for another Sunday Story, but take it from us - an emergency bag isn't the kind of thing you'll want to wish you had when disruption strikes, and we do mean "when" and not "if" - it can and will happen to all of us, especially in this day and age.
In an emergency or disruption, your ability to continue to function beyond the basic needs is essential, and that’s why we recommend including the following in you bag of tricks.
Electronics and Communications
There’s an old survivalist maxim that calls for redundancy, and it’s “Two is one and one is none”. There’s wisdom here - if you only have one of something, and that thing breaks, you now have a huge gap in your equipment and that gap may be really challenging to bridge over. This is especially true in terms of our remarkably robust (but still very breakable) day-to-day electronics that we rely on. This doesn’t mean bringing two of everything everywhere - for starters, if we start talking about iPhones, we’re talking about thousands of dollars in expenses. Secondly, there’s no point in having two cell phones if the cell network goes down. And it can and will - in major disruptions, everyone is going to be in the same boat as you: desperately trying to call their loved ones or colleagues to communicate critical information. Our cell networks are a lot more reliable than they used to be, but they aren’t designed for every single person in a signal area to be using their phones at the same time, so you should plan on them not working reliably during a disruption.
Instead, we encourage you to think about the utility of the tool more than the tool itself, so let’s break this down from the perspective of communications.
Communication is both saying stuff and hearing stuff - you need to inform the critical people in your life what’s going on with you during a disruptive event, but you also need to be able to get critical information from others like the authorities or your friends and family. Recognizing this, your first line of redundancy is your cell phone - Remember, most disruptions aren’t going to be huge; they can be localized to you or your environment and you’ll still feel that disrupted feeling. So, your cell phone is a great tool as it gives you phone, text, and data communication pathways, as well as web browsing, all of which are critical for getting rapid, to-the-minute information and sending out what’s going on with you. So what’s your second layer? It depends on your budget, so here’s some things you can consider:
Satellite communications have gotten a lot cheaper and easier to use. For example, a Garmin In-Reach device is about $500 to buy, and for a relatively low monthly cost, it can provide you with text-based satellite communication from anywhere in the world. Your iPhone also has built-in satellite communication abilities though, so you can use iMessage virtually anywhere you have a clear view of the sky. To our American readers, some companies are rolling out Starlink compatibility with cell phones to give you full satellite coverage, but it’s early days for this technology yet.
You could also go old-school - a small two-way Amateur Radio can be a really useful tool in emergencies, but there are technical training requirements to be able to use one effectively.
If you are willing to give up the ability to say stuff, but still want to preserve the ability to hear stuff, a small hand-crank radio can give you access to AM, FM, and Shortwave signals, and they often come with USB charging ports or a flashlight so you can make use of their generating capacity in other ways.
And finally, at the most basic - bring a couple of pens, sharpie markers, and some index cards. The ability to leave a note is often forgotten about in today’s digital world, but whether it’s a fender bender in a parking lot or you have to leave a place that you previously planned to meet someone at, the ability to leave a note is invaluable.
At a minimum, we’d recommend adding the note option to your bag, and consider a way to mitigate the risk of losing your primary means of communication such as through the redundancy plans mentioned above. One thing to consider is that you can mitigate risk another way: maybe day to day, you are OK using your phone with a fashionable case, but for under $100, you can add a heavy duty waterproof case for your phone to your bag. If you are in an emergency situation, swapping into the more robust case can be a great way to mitigate the risk of losing your primary communications device.
Whatever option you choose, remember the electronics are no good if they don’t have a battery. At a minimum, bring along charging bricks and cords for your devices and keep them in your bag. If you want to be thorough, include a battery backup that you can plug in to have portable power whenever you need it.
Essential Personal Needs
We’ve all got different personal needs, but there’s some general guidelines. What do you need every day, every week, and every month to function?
A hygiene kit is essential; pack one that has soap, a toothbrush, and some toothpaste so that you can freshen up after that garlic-heavy salad before the big sales meeting (that’s a way your kit can help you avoid a disruption!). But this kind of hygiene kit will be a godsend in the event of a multi-day disruption. It can do wonders for morale to simply have a way of getting clean.
Also, pack a bit of personal wipes suitable to be used as toilet tissue - as in, something without a lot of harsh chemicals. Wet wipes are very versatile, just don’t flush them. You will thank us for this tip later when you end up using the stall that has run out of TP but you’ve neglected to check before doing your thing.
Also consider what you might need in the form of daily medications, or even seasonal issues like allergies. Having extra medicine and copies of your prescriptions is a good idea.
We also suggest that you add in a couple of condoms and feminine hygiene products. We recommend this even if you don’t personally need to use these products. They are small and light, and you may be with someone who needs them, and as we’ll share next week, that’s the real trick to leading through disruption - your relationships with others! - so being able to do someone a favour in this way is not a bad idea.
A small first aid kit is a good idea too - one with something go help you with small cuts, scrapes, and blisters is plenty, with a few safety pins for those emergency tailor moments or the need to remove a splinter.
Remember the “Two is one and one is none” rule? Those feminine hygiene products make great wound care gauze in a pinch, and the venerable safety pin is useful in a lot of situations for more than just keeping stitches together. Condoms can be used for their intended purpose, or as a way of tying on a bandage, or as a water container.
Let There Be Light
It’s shocking how often this one is overlooked, but the reality is people don’t see very good in the dark. We are not cats or bats, so being able to illuminate our surroundings is essential, especially since even moderate disruptions like big weather events often impact the flow of electricity. You will already have a cell phone flashlight, probably, but you’ll definitely want redundancy here and we’d suggest going an extra two layers deep, because if your cell phone is your primary communications tool, you don’t want to run the battery down with the flashlight.
A small camping headlamp is ideal, and many are rechargeable or can work on both proprietary batteries and the kinds of alkaline batteries you’d find at any C-Store or gas station. Don’t just pack the light - pack spare batteries too.
Finally, mankind has lived or died on the ability to make fire for thousands of years. Your ancestors would probably have gone to war with others over the power of a single Bic lighter during most of human existence. These lighters are cheap and ubiquitous - bring two.
Manage Your Mind
Make sure you have space for some comfort items. This can be anything you think you might want to have with you. We recommend an e-reader loaded with books and reference materials at a minimum; they hold a charge for a really long time, are fairly affordable, and the stuff you load onto them can be really helpful, for example loading an instruction manual on how to use your phone’s satellite communication feature.
Other examples of what to bring with you would be a deck of cards, maybe some prayer beads or meditation aids, religious text or similar. You might also want to consider some earplugs if you need some quiet time each day, or a sleep mask if you need pure dark to catch some Z’s. Remember, you have to take care of yourself before you can take care of anyone else, and self care items like these go a long way in an emergency.
A Few Other Items
The ability to cut, clamp, file, open, or otherwise manipulate your environment with tools is really handy, and nearly impossible if you don’t have the tool. Consider a Leatherman or similar tool, and don’t be cheap - buy the name brand Leatherman or Gerber, as the knockoffs are more likely to result in you injuring yourself than they are to be handy in an issue.
You should also have paper copies of key documents that you might need at a moments notice somewhere in your bag. For example, photocopies of a passport and drivers license goes a long way in a pinch, and depending on your context, you might also want copies of residency visas, plane tickets, or other pieces of information. Photographs of loved ones and pets is handy - not just for the emotional support they can provide to you, but also if you need to reunite at some point and need an easy way to identify them to others.
Having a USB stick with critical documents is also recommended, especially those critical documents that would be hard to replace if you experiences a major disruption at your primary residence where these documents are usually kept. We’re talking about deeds to property, wedding and birth certificates, and that kind of thing. Keeping these on a password-protected memory stick means you always have a back up of essential documents if you need them.
Testing and Conclusion
If you pack a backpack the way we’ve described above, and keep it handy like in your office or your car, then as a Leader you’ll be ready for the everyday disruption of spilled coffee, the more moderate disruptions like a big storm or a flight delay, and you’ll even be ready for a major disruption like the total devastation of where you live (like we saw in Los Angeles recently). The fact of the matter is, if you can manage for three days, you can manage for three months, and if a disruption is sufficiently large that it’s taken you out of your usual routine for 3 months, you’re probably not going back to whatever “normal” was before the disruption, so you really want this bag to be something you can rely on.
And that’s why we recommend you have some fun with this and test it out. Pack your bag, and then separate yourself from your usual routine - hop that plane, bus, or boat to a different city, or head to a friends place, and bring only you bag with you. Make it a family affair so everyone can test their bags on the trip. Your goal is to exist for at least 3 days out of just your bag. If you need to buy anything to make do, find a way to add that to your bag after the trip, or at least write down the things you wish you had. This can be a fun way of dipping your toes into minimalist living, which can be extremely valuable practice for when you are forced into it by a disruption.
Next week, we’re going to be talking about the most important thing for Leaders to do to prep for an emergency in the conclusion to this series. Thanks for reading, and we’ll see you next Sunday!
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