About the practice
AN ADVISORY FIRM BUILT FOR THE ROOM WHERE DECISIONS GET MADE.
Blackline Resilience is an independent, veteran-owned advisory practice. We work directly with executive leadership to build the capability, governance, and confidence that carry an organization through disruption.
Most organizations are not short on plans. They are short on practiced capability.
Programs are frequently measured by the documents they produce: the plan on the shelf, the annual attestation, the audit response closed on time. Those artifacts have value, but they are evidence of effort — not evidence of capability.
Blackline was founded on a different premise. Resilience is a leadership discipline. It is demonstrated when executives know what matters most, who decides, and how the organization will actually operate when conditions change. Our work is aimed squarely at that outcome.
Founder & Executive Advisor
Michael Harding
Michael Harding is the Founder and Executive Advisor of Blackline Resilience, an executive advisory firm dedicated to helping organizations build confidence, capability, and resilience before disruption occurs. With more than two decades of experience in business continuity, operational resilience, crisis management, disaster recovery, and enterprise risk, Michael has helped organizations design, strengthen, and mature resilience capabilities across a variety of industries. His experience spans both executive leadership roles within industry and global consulting, providing him with a practical understanding of the challenges organizations face when balancing strategy, risk, operations, and preparedness.
Throughout his career, Michael observed a common theme: many organizations invest significant time and effort in developing plans and documentation, yet executive leaders often remain uncertain about how their organizations would actually perform during disruption. That realization became the foundation for Blackline Resilience.
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Rather than focusing solely on documentation or compliance, Michael's approach emphasizes organizational capability, executive decision-making, leadership preparedness, and operational resilience. He believes resilience is ultimately demonstrated through leadership, governance, and execution – not simply through the existence of plans.
Blackline Resilience was founded on the belief that resilience starts long before the crisis. Through executive advisory services, resilience assessments, business continuity program development, crisis leadership support, tabletop exercises, and strategic guidance, Michael partners with organizations to help them better understand their critical operations, validate preparedness, and strengthen resilience before disruption occurs.
In addition to his advisory work, Michael is the creator of several proprietary Blackline initiatives, including the Rapid Resilience Assessment™, the Blackline Philosophy™, the Blackline Resilience Model™, and the Executive Insight Series™, a growing body of proprietary thought leadership designed to help executive leaders think differently about operational resilience, leadership readiness, and organizational capability.
Michael is a certified member of both the Business Continuity Institute (MBCI) and Disaster Recovery Institute International (CBCP) and is currently pursuing the Master Business Continuity Professional (MBCP) designation. He is also a proud United States Marine Corps veteran, an experience that continues to influence his leadership philosophy through discipline, accountability, service, and preparation.
Today, Michael works with executive leaders to strengthen resilience before disruption occurs – helping organizations move beyond planning alone toward building the confidence, capability, and leadership required to perform when it matters most.
“Resilience is ultimately demonstrated through leadership, governance, and execution — not simply through the existence of plans.”
How we work
Every engagement begins with an honest read of current capability — not a template. What exists, what is practiced, what is assumed, and where the gap between the two would show up first.
Resilience decisions are executive decisions. We engage leadership directly rather than working around them, because alignment reached in a conference room cannot be delegated downward after the fact.
Capability is confirmed by exercising it. We design exercises that produce candid findings and a short list of decisions leadership can actually act on.
The objective is an organization that can carry the work forward on its own. Deliverables are built for your team to own, maintain, and defend.
What guides the work
Independence
No software to sell, no implementation arm to feed. Recommendations are shaped by what the organization needs, not by what we would be paid to build next.
Candor
Findings are delivered plainly. An assessment that reassures leadership without informing it has failed at the only job that mattered.
Proportion
Programs should match the organization’s risk, size, and regulatory posture. More process is not the same as more resilience.
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I strive to respond to all inquiries within one business day.