Interview With Frank Elsner: Corporate Security, Crisis Planning, and Leadership Under Pressure
Frank Elsner is a Canadian corporate security executive and crisis management advisor with more than three decades of leadership experience in public safety, security operations, and organizational risk management. He is the Founder, Executive Security Advisor, and Crisis Leadership Consultant at Stonehaven Risk Group Ltd., where he advises organizations on workplace violence prevention, crisis preparedness, security governance, operational risk, and executive-level security strategy.
In this interview, Elsner discusses his experience in executive leadership roles, corporate security priorities, crisis preparedness, and the realities organizations face when risk management fails to keep pace with operational growth.
Q: Your work at Stonehaven Risk Group focuses heavily on organizational risk and crisis preparedness. What concerns are companies bringing to you most often?
Frank Elsner: A lot of the calls I get deal with companies that have grown quickly, and leadership realizes its internal controls have not kept pace. Maybe they added new facilities, expanded distribution, hired rapidly, or took on greater operational demands without building the structure to support them. Many executives know something feels off, though they cannot always identify where the exposure lies. Sometimes it is workplace conflict that management ignores for too long. Sometimes it is weak reporting procedures or confusion around who is responsible during a serious incident. What companies need is clarity. They need someone who can come in, look at the situation objectively, and help them put practical systems in place without slowing down the business. That’s what we do at Stonehaven.
Q: A major part of your advisory work involves workplace violence prevention. What separates an actually effective program from one that simply exists on paper?
Frank Elsner: The difference is whether employees trust the process. I have seen plenty of organizations with policies that technically exist, though nobody uses them because staff are unsure what happens after a report is made. An effective program has clear reporting channels, leadership involvement, proper documentation, and managers who are trained to recognize behaviour changes early. Most workplace situations do not suddenly appear out of nowhere. There are usually warning signs along the way. One thing I tell leadership teams all the time is that culture matters. If employees believe management avoids difficult conversations, they stop reporting concerns. That creates problems later.
Q: You also lead crisis management exercises for organizations. What do those exercises usually reveal?
Frank Elsner: They make clear whether the leadership team can stay organized as pressure builds. That is usually where the truth comes out. Some groups communicate well immediately. They understand their roles, stay focused, and make decisions quickly. Other teams get overwhelmed by information and lose direction within the first twenty minutes. I also watch how executives speak to one another during the exercise. In a real crisis, communication breakdown creates confusion fast. If leadership is unclear internally, the rest of the organization feels it immediately. The value of these exercises is that companies can identify weaknesses before they face a real emergency.
Q: Stonehaven Risk Group provides fractional executive security leadership. Why are more companies looking for that kind of support?
Frank Elsner: Many businesses need experienced guidance, though they are not at the point where they need a full-time security executive sitting in the office every day. What they do need is someone who can help with strategy, governance, crisis planning, vendor oversight, or workplace concerns at the leadership level. That is where the fractional model works well. My job is to work with organizations that want senior-level judgment without building an entire department around it. It gives them flexibility while still improving accountability and structure internally.
Q: What are some of the most common weaknesses you identify during security risk reviews?
Frank Elsner: Operational habits are usually where the biggest issues sit. A company may have cameras, access systems, policies, and procedures, but their daily practices tell a different story. Doors get propped open. Visitor processes become inconsistent. Contractors move through facilities without proper oversight. Small shortcuts become normal over time. I spend a lot of time looking at how operations actually function day to day because that is where vulnerabilities usually appear. Most security failures are not caused by one major event. They build slowly through inconsistency.
Q: You work closely with executive teams during sensitive situations. What qualities do strong leaders demonstrate during difficult periods?
Frank Elsner: Calm decision-making. People pay close attention to leadership during stressful situations. Strong leaders communicate clearly, stay visible, and avoid overreacting emotionally. They also recognize that waiting too long to make decisions usually creates more pressure. Employees are much better at handling difficult situations when leadership is direct and steady. What creates uncertainty is silence, mixed messaging, or confusion around priorities.
