Crisis Management: The Power of the Watchdog – Eliot Spitzer: Crisis preparation Which better protects business and customers? An unfettered free market where creativity, growth, and consumer protection are not inhibited by government bureaucracy? Or… an aggressive watchdog government on the trail of expedient and sometimes unscrupulous executives? On a C-Span evening that had a “through the […]

Crisis Management: The Power of Apology: Crisis response Spin control has devalued words. Nevertheless, sometimes – sometimes – heartfelt comment can still move an audience and perhaps bridge controversy. A handful of such words gave me pause as I listened to an interview with two catholic priests on National Public Radio. With the U.S. church being pummeled […]

Crisis Management: The Hard Lesson of Having Nothing to Say: The need for speed By now, you almost certainly know that rarely, if ever, should you say “No comment” when facing a public problem. Saying nothing may be legally pleasing to avoid misstatement, but it hardly enhances your reputation or reassures outsiders. That is why media coaching […]

Crisis Management: The Golden Hour – A lesson from the sniper attack: The need for speed When the Washington area sniper shot a 13-year old school boy in the chest, rapid action by the boy’s aunt followed by equally fast-acting medical experts saved the child’s life. The Washington Post said, “His aunt, a quick-thinking nurse… rushed him […]

Crisis Management: The Future of News and How to Prepare For it: crisis communications The Greensboro, NC, newspaper News & Record is experimenting with interactive news reporting on the Internet, Fox Cable News with its pro-America stance eclipses competition, Internet bloggers become significant, the network newscast audience shrinks, and so does newspaper readership. So, whither the news business and […]

Crisis Management: The Dishonesty Behind Japan’s Tsunami Aftermath: Crisis prevention American companies handling hazardous chemicals scrambled in the late 1990’s to meet a new EPA requirement to declare worst-case environmental disasters.  They had to specify the precise geographical area involved, the number of people affected, how the crisis would be dealt with, crisis communications, etc.  These Risk Management Plans […]

Crisis Management: The Best PR Is No Help Sometimes: Crisis response Since many know that I assist companies facing controversy to minimize it or avoid it, several people asked me, half-jokingly, “What would you do if Enron were your client?” I said, “Enron is like the Titanic. How do you raise a ship resting on the ocean […]

Crisis Management: The Banks – Avoid Answering Emotions With Fact : Crisis communications Given the slash and burn of reputations during this economic upheaval here are three vintage crisis PR aphorisms for businesses to remember especially while everyone’s hair is on fire: One.  Avoid answering emotional arguments with facts. Two.  If you want people to believe you care, […]

Crisis Management: The 3-option Approach to Crisis Management: Crisis decision-making How do you tackle a challenging situation when almost every solution has its own set of problems?  In these cases of myriad shades of gray consider a 3-option approach.  This is an old but powerful idea. When a U.S. Marine faces an unexpected adversity for which he has not trained, he is encouraged […]

Crisis Management: Teamwork Critical To Crisis Management: Crisis response Leaders know that a good team accomplishes far more than a micromanaging autocrat. Clients and I certainly appreciate it. We collaborate intensely on crises or critical issues that face us. Working in concert while following principles, values, and the facts, we collectively produce more creative solutions than any […]