Sometimes, the best people to learn from are the ones who started out doing things the wrong way.
Oil baron John Rockefeller drew much criticism through his time in business due in great part to his handling of his competition. After decades of quietly using some not-so-nice methods to improve his own organization’s success, the Rockefeller empire began to be threatened not only by the words of journalists, but also the decisions of lawmakers, and as a result launched what could certainly an early PR campaign.
Rockefeller himself broke a policy of active silence with the press to make himself more available, and began writing and publishing yearly memoirs discussing his thoughts on life and business, a tactic we still see CEOs of many large corporations using with their blogs today. The interesting thing here is that he had engaged in philanthropic efforts throughout his career, but did little to share that knowledge with the world until he had an epiphany, described in this week’s Crisis Management Quotable:
“Next to doing the right thing, the most important thing is to let people know you are doing the right thing.” — John D. Rockefeller
Many organizations are already doing great things, from creating community events to giving to the needy, but they aren’t letting stakeholders outside the immediate area know about it. With your cause drawing more interest, and your company getting a nice PR boost from it to boot (padding the reputation cushion it’s so important to build before running into trouble), it’s really a win-win move.
The BCM Blogging Team
https://www.bernsteincrisismanagement.com