Crisis Response

Insights into crisis leadership, reputation and readiness

Crisis Response

The Three Behaviors that Feed a Crisis: Ostrich Effect

The Three Behaviors that Feed a Crisis: Ostrich Effect

Do you think you know what causes a reputational crisis? At least have a good guess? I’m here to tell you that it’s likely not what you think. It's a lack of preparation.   There is that pithy statement that you see on notepads, signs on desks, and as gifs – lack of preparation on your part does...

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Don’t Stumble over Something behind You

Don’t Stumble over Something behind You

These words are frequently attributed to the Ancient Roman stoic Seneca the Younger. They still ring true 2,000 years later. When it comes to managing a crisis, they are both a warning and a reason for leadership to move forward. Speed is the single most important difference between good and great...

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What Makes a Successful Crisis Simulation

What Makes a Successful Crisis Simulation

“Practice makes perfect,” the saying goes. When it comes to crisis management, “practice makes prepared.” Periodic crisis exercises help teams build muscle memory, remember their crisis response plans, and identify gaps in that plan, the skill set, or the people responsible for executing it. Far...

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The Value of Saying I’m Sorry … from a Canadian

The Value of Saying I’m Sorry … from a Canadian

If you’ve spoken to me for more than five minutes, you know I’m Canadian – also American – but I was Canadian first and very proud of it. Every stereotype of Canadians includes that we like to say sorry: to each other, visitors, inanimate objects, and so on. Move away for a while and you’ll...

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Winning An Argument with Crazy

Winning An Argument with Crazy

Let’s be clear. You can’t win an argument against Crazy.  Once rightfully relegated to the lunatic fringe, Crazy abounds today – it is everywhere. Crazy is encouraged, fanned, inflamed, and carried to new converts by the magnifying lens that is social media. Sadly, organizations that value their...

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Daily Harvest Needs To Be a Lesson for All Startups

Daily Harvest Needs To Be a Lesson for All Startups

Have you stuck to your New Year’s resolutions? I didn’t make any this year. Instead, I built a plan that will build on small changes throughout the year. January has been a focus on slowing down. But even with my change of thought, it was pretty hard to ignore the barrage of ads about weight loss,...

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Kyte Baby: How It Could Have Been Avoided

Kyte Baby: How It Could Have Been Avoided

There have been some really great dissections of the #KyteBaby crisis response. Jeremy Tunis and Eleanor Hawkins to name my favorites. But for all this great analysis, I want to dive a little deeper into how this could have been prevented. I see there are three points: It’s a commonly held...

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Kith Launches Litigation Communications Practice

Kith Launches Litigation Communications Practice

KITH LAUNCHES LITIGATION COMMUNICATIONS PRACTICE Crisis Management Advisory Formalizes Legal Conflict Expertise  Austin, TX– Kith, among the fastest-growing crisis management advisory firms in the country, has launched a new legal conflict communications practice to provide strategic reputation...

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There Is Going To Be Another Bud Light. Are You Next?

There Is Going To Be Another Bud Light. Are You Next?

It’s not often that a brand can anger all sides of the political spectrum and take a financial hit but Bud Light managed to do that last week. And there has been a tremendous amount of analysis of the roots of the controversy as well as the response.  Some have called it a failure of marketing....

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Control What You Can Control, Including Your Anger

Control What You Can Control, Including Your Anger

Justin Wilcox is used to winning and losing. For the head football coach of the University of California Golden Bears, wins and losses usually come on the football field, but his latest loss was handed to him by a bunch of college presidents and network executives far, far away from his practice...

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Don’t Become the Woking Dead

Don’t Become the Woking Dead

Bud Light. Disney. Mars Wrigley. Dilbert. The Super Mario Bros movie. Victoria’s Secret. Utah’s proposed new state flag. BlackRock. The U.S. military. Legos. Jack Daniels. Even Chick-fil-A. Accusations of “wokeness” have been flung far and wide so far in 2023. Is your company next? Are you ready?...

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Three Lessons from FTX’s Collapse for Crisis Leaders

Three Lessons from FTX’s Collapse for Crisis Leaders

The dust from the wreckage of FTX’s collapse doesn’t have time to settle before it’s stirred up again. The latest revelation – that one of the world’s most “admired” cryptocurrency exchanges was comically terrible at both IT security (the “crypto” part) and tracking funds (the “currency” part) –...

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Are you ready for a crisis?

Is your organization prepared to respond to a crisis and protect its hard-earned reputation? Take our quiz and find out!