Crisis Leadership Blog
Insights and perspectives on being the lighthouse during a crisis.
Speed: The Foundation of Becoming Crisis Confident
In my last blog post, I introduced the concept of Crisis Confidence, and that confidence is born out of speed, clarity, and trust. Over the next three weeks, I want to dig in on each of those elements and give them context and specific recommendations on what you can...
Clarity, Trust, and Speed are the Building Blocks of Crisis Confidence
"The crucible of crisis doesn't develop your skill sets; it reveals them." I've said these words to many leaders over the years, and as people pause and reflect on it, it dawns on them: if they're honest with themselves, they don't think they'll like what the crucible...
Give comms a seat at the table
COVID changed so many of our lives in dramatic and also small ways. For me, one was watching TV. I’ve never been a huge TV person so I’ve been fortunate to have great programs to watch as I focused on sticking close to home. The other night I started to watch a show...
Breaking the Crisis Wheel
Like my Kith colleagues, I cut my proverbial teeth in politics. Not as a candidate, but as a campaign staffer and, later, a political consultant. Campaigns are great places to train for reputation management and crisis communications because everything is a crisis....
Politics is coming for you
Have you ever stood at the grocery store trying to decide which pasta to buy and thought about the CEO of one pasta company making a political statement? You remember you didn’t appreciate what she said, but you really prefer how that pasta cooks. Or maybe you agreed...
By definition, Kith means a cadre of peers who shape opinions and attitudes while instilling sophisticated habits for action. As a way to live this value, we like to share resources that are building blocks to good crisis management and can help you start the path of protecting your reputation.
More Recent Insights
Eight Elements of Successful Crisis Response
Crisis Response Fundamentals – our quick reference.
Part 2 Communicating How & When to Reopen for Business
Although some may disagree, we believe we are no longer in a crisis, but instead a critical moment. The response phase is over and it is now time to make decisions for what lies ahead. Two weeks ago we hosted a webinar discussing how and when to reopen for business. As the reality of reopening draws confusingly closer we wanted to revisit that topic with...
Leveraging Stakeholder Research for Your COVID Communications Strategy
Bill Coletti and Karlan Witt, CEO of Cambia Information Group, discuss using stakeholder research so you don't have to guess when it comes to crafting your next COVID-19 response message. The webinar covers: Robust research options: the recipe for strong survey research, message development, stakeholder prioritization, spokesperson optimization and more...
Burden of Command: Bill Coletti
In this episode we have a conversation about leadership and responding to a crisis as well as the impacts it can have on your reputation. LISTEN HERE
What Is & Is Not Working in COVID-19 Communications
We are now entering the third or fourth week of messaging around corporate response - the “mushy middle phase” as we referred to it in our previous webinars. On the third webinar in Kith's COVID-19 Communications Series, Bill Coletti shares observations on how companies are using the A-B-C approach (Always - Be - Communicating) and remaining helpful and...
Purpose 360: Communications in a Time of Crisis with Kith’s Bill Coletti
Listen for Bill’s insights on: The tenets of successful crisis communications: always be communicating, always be listening, and manage stakeholder expectations. The importance of articulating a company’s core values during challenging times, and demonstrating how those values guide the company in standing for something bigger than itself. Three...
Reopening after COVID-19: how to come back when the time comes
Critical takeaways In one of our recent COVID-19 webinars, we tackled the difficult decision businesses are going to face when it is time to reopen and, even though that may be some time off, we feel that this is the time to start planning for that eventuality. Unlike the decision to close, there won’t be a single ‘all clear’ and following the herd won’t...
Communicating How & When to Re-Open for Business
On the second webinar in Kith COVID-19 Communication's Series, Bill Coletti helps leaders and their advisors address the confusion around how and when businesses should come back. More specifically, he discusses the financial, social and moral considerations that come with those decisions - especially in light of mixed scientific, political and...
Turning Inwards: Tips for External Communicators Managing Internal Communications
Critical Takeaways The changes forced on businesses by COVID-19 are placing greater emphasis on internal communications. This is requiring external communicators to turn their attention inwards but this change requires a shift in perspective. We’ve outlined five considerations that external communicators need to have in mind when making this shift to...
Manage to Win: How Businesses and CEOs Should Respond to the COVID-19 Crisis, with Bill Coletti
In this special episode we speak with Bill Coletti about coronavirus, what businesses can and should do to address the crisis, how CEOs and other leaders should react, and what you can do during the following weeks and months to make sure your company is ready to return to normal operations when the crisis is over. LISTEN HERE
The Kith Method
Good crisis management comes from a plan. Great crisis management comes from capability – and starts before you even smell smoke. That’s why we developed the Kith Method. We can help build and maintain a flexible capability that works for you.
Your reputation is an investment; time-consuming and costly to build and expensive to repair. Protect it.