We’ve been speaking out about what’s now been coined “fake news”, an overall lack of fact-checking, and unethical behavior from the media for many years. While many journalists strive to honestly bring news to the people, there are just as many today who have nothing in mind beyond getting as …
Everyday choices can create serious issues I can’t count the number of crises I’ve seen during my career that started with an operational decision that seemed like a good idea at the time — but which was fatally flawed from the start because decision makers didn’t ask a critical question. …
Practice restraint of pen, tongue, and send button Communicating can be a tricky thing. It’s easy to say something but not quite get across what you meant, and just as easy for you to say exactly what you intended and have it be interpreted in a completely different way by …
Is a lack of preparedness for media interest leaving you vulnerable to crisis? So you have an official spokesperson and they’re media trained to the point that they’d get your message across no matter what the situation. That’s a valuable asset to be sure. But, are they the only one …
Don’t let dishonesty creep into your communications Lying is a funny thing. While it’s widely accepted that purposely stating something that isn’t true is classified as a lie and wrong to do, people convince themselves that other forms of lying aren’t so bad. As a kid I was told there are …
Following a nasty incident in which racial slurs were scrawled outside some student’s doors at the U.S. Air Force Academy in Colorado, Superintendent Lt. Gen. Jay Silveria gathered every cadet in a hall so they could hear his message. What followed was a demonstration of public speaking ability that was …
The announcement of HBO’s new show, “Confederate,” which takes place in an alternate timeline where Southern states successfully seceded from the union and slavery remains legal, was already bound to draw criticism. It’s pretty much the definition of a touchy topic. The way the show was announced, however, created even …
With friends and family sharing personal stories of preparations and evacuations we’d like to share information about giving for those affected by these massive storms from a trusted source – CharityNavigator.com. Hurricane Irma made landfall in Barbuda on Wednesday morning, September 6th, as a Category 5 hurricane. With winds of …
Avoid the items on this list and up your crisis game Crisis management is often a game of mitigation. That means you stop damage where you can, and reduce the impact where it can’t be stopped completely. Creating additional risks to your reputation and organization in the middle of that …
Clashes create conflict One of our challenges as a crisis management firm is helping clients have realistic expectations about what we can accomplish for them. For example, if a situation can’t be “fixed” but only balanced enough that the lasting damage is limited, we’d be asking for trouble if we …
The following is a reprint of the editorial from our August 31, 2017 issue of ‘Crisis Manager’. I started to write a different editorial here but fact is nothing I can say right now felt as important as sharing some info that might help victims of Hurricane Harvey. Instead, I’d …
Failing to keep customers happy is a crisis management concern We’ve all had them – that one terrible customer experience that left us saying, “never again.” Losing even one customer can hurt, and oftentimes truly bad customer experiences impact far more than that. The headlines have been flooded with big …
[Editor’s note: This post is Part 2 from a pair of contributions by guest blogger Cylvia Hayes. To read her first post, click here.] Using a Reputation Crisis to Become Better and Bigger…Instead of Just Bitter If you wind up facing an intense reputation crisis people will ask you about …
To Avoid a Reputation Crisis Don’t Do What I Did! On October 7, 2014 my life blew up. I was serving as First Lady of Oregon, partner to the Governor who was running for reelection. A notoriously mudslinging reporter who had been after me for years finally found something from …
We tell clients to get an outside perspective on things like new products or services whenever possible. When you’ve been close to a project you tend to only see what you want to see, and not what the savage eyes of critics will spot immediately. Boutique and vintage brand BelleChic …
