Critical takeaways In sailing, the rhumb line is the shortest, most direct route between Point A and B.  However, external factors such as tides, weather or obstacles seldom allow ships to take this direct route, and they must compensate for these factors. Businesses in crisis also need a clear...

Critical takeaways Like our diets, we can take different approaches to how we prepare for crises. Many companies have a high-carb, ‘junk food’ approach to crisis preparedness which generates a short-term ‘sugar-high’ but little sustainable benefit. Unlike high-carb diets, a keto diet advocates a...

Critical takeaways Knowing the right thing to do in the run up to or aftermath of a crisis can be difficult. A process for ethical decision-making is needed to overcome these challenges. Immanuel Kant’s philosophy - based on the four pillars of autonomy; the categorical imperative; ethical...

Critical Takeaways Insurance is available to cover crisis communications support in a crisis. Check to see if you have this in place and understand what is covered. Establish a rapport with the providers before an event.   The simulation was going incredibly well. The data breach had been...

Critical Takeaways CEOs need an honest view of the situation in order to be able to manage a crisis. This requires those who support them to ‘speak truth to power’. Crisis communicators are in a unique position to bring the external perspectives into the discussion. Communicators must learn to...

Critical takeaways A shelf of plans in ‘white binders’ gives a false sense of security and can be worthless. A crisis plan is not a step-by-step guide for every possible eventuality but should lay out the basic procedures for managing a crisis and some standard steps to address crises by type....

Critical Takeaways Reputation risk is becoming better understood and more explicitly linked to corporate value but CEOs still lack the requisite tools to manage this risk. Lessons learned from compliance in the 1990s / 2000s provide a roadmap for CEOs to build a culture that creates and values...

We all love to use the word strategy and this is the natural level at which a communicator should be thinking.  Our efforts are a major part of what makes strategy - the way in which the organization will realize its objectives - work. But much as we like to talk about it, it’s also easy to forget...

  I'm often asked, "What are the keys to crisis response success?".  After 25 years in the field, I have a ready stock of answers (a whole book’s worth in fact).  However, many of these articles have been from the standpoint of what the company should do, how fast they should respond or who...

Don’t be a gazelle – how to manage fear in crisis I was recently watching Animal Planet with my daughter. The show was about predators hunting their prey, in this case a lion and a herd of gazelle. Gazelles have keen hearing and a good sense of smell but sensing the lion, their immediate response...