Crisis Leadership Blog
Insights and perspectives on being the lighthouse during a crisis.
Thankful in a Thankless Year
I’m thankful that so many strategic communicators and companies have recognized the critical importance of “always be communicating” with your audiences who matter most.
Hacking Humans: The Public’s Expectations are Changing
Converstation with Bill Coletti, crisis communications and reputation management expert at Kith, and author of the book Critical Moments: A New Mindset for Reputation Management.
Social Risk Webinar Recap
The public’s expectations of corporations and brands are higher, and writing a check to a cause or saying “that’s not our lane” won’t cut it anymore. Even a well-crafted statement is not enough. Actions must follow words.
Top Tips for Running Crisis Management Simulations
Crisis simulations are a sure fire way to build “muscle memory” of response and action that can be deployed during an actual crisis impacting you or your organization. We believe simulations are one of the most effective tools in a communication team’s toolbox. Here are some Top Tips for running your own crisis simulations.
Be Prepared for What Comes after Election Night
Election Day is next week. Tens of millions of Americans have already cast their ballots in states where early voting is permitted. Tens of millions more will vote on Tuesday in their local polling place. Most years, elections just kind of happen. People vote, wait for results to be announced, celebrate or not, and go on with their lives the next day. The 2020 election will not follow that script, and high levels of anxiety will last for a while.
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
Inspiring Leaders: Crisis Leadership with Bill Coletti
If you'd like to have grace, generosity, respect and action in the midst of a crisis, this episode is for you. Bill Coletti is a reputation management, crisis communications and professional development expert, keynote speaker, Wall Street Journal Risk & Compliance panelist, and best-selling author of "Critical Moments: The New Mindset of...
Filling your reservoir of goodwill
Critical takeaways Having a sound reputation and a reservoir of goodwill is critical to success in a crisis. Your reputation is built on authentic, positive behaviors over the long term, starting well before a crisis hits. Our Four As of Reputation Excellence and Seven Levers for Reputation Management will guide you as you develop your reputation. ...
Creativity or Authenticity in Crisis?
Critical takeaways Crises are always a mix of unfamiliarity because every situation is different, and familiarity because the fundamentals of an effective response are the same. Unfortunately, sticking to these fundamentals and taking a ‘traditional’ approach can make your response seem old fashioned and overly conventional, tempting you to become...
Strategic Risks: Balancing Friction And Convenience
Critical Takeaways Digital friction is the resistance created where additional steps are required for someone to start using a device or service. Companies strive to reduce friction and increase convenience but this can be at the expense of security and other benefits. These tradeoffs can create strategic risks and you have to be prepared to explain your...
Four Questions to Help Diagnose your Crisis Patient
Critical takeaways Doctors have to sift through a lot of information quickly to get to a diagnosis and use a basic four-question model to do this. Crisis communicators can use a similar set of questions to get to the root of the issue for a corporation facing a crisis. These questions along with good pattern recognition will help rapidly identify the issue...
Achieving Crisis Mastery: The Case for Finding a Crisis Coach
Critical takeaways Mastery in a field comes after competence has been achieved but achieving mastery requires objective feedback to refine and optimize performance. Coaches are very common in sports and are beginning to be used in other fields to help practitioners hone their skills and to understand & eliminate the bad and expand focus on the good. A...
The Doctor Will See You Now: How Kith Serves Clients
David Maister is regarded as one of the world's leading thinkers on consulting firm structure and positioning. For decades, Maister studied the business of consulting and his writing and ideas form the foundation of what we now recognize as modern management consulting. What makes Maister so compelling isn't just the quality of his thinking, but the...
On-Demand Webinar: Crisis Simulations: Everything You Need to Know
When your crisis skillsets are revealed, are you confident you will like what you see? At Kith, we are firm believers that crisis simulations are the most valuable planning and preparedness tool available to an organization and should be a routine part of every company’s training regimen. Time and time again, we have seen the tangible benefits of...
Families in Crisis: Often the Guilty are Very Innocent
Critical takeaways Families and individuals who become caught up in a public scandal or personal critical moment will come under intense media and public scrutiny. However, unlike many companies, families and individuals are rarely prepared for this kind of adverse publicity and their naiveté can make things worse. Several of the same techniques that help...
Protesters have their place: and it doesn’t have to be at your front door
Critical takeaways Protests can be an effective way for people to make their point and they can be used against businesses of any size. Protestors have the right to picket your business but that doesn't mean that they can break the law or interfere with your staff, clients or prevent you trading. Planning ahead, focussing on peoples’ safety and careful...
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.