Crisis Leadership Blog
Insights and perspectives on being the lighthouse during a crisis.
Walking the Walk: Critical Moments
In this conversation with Jim Bouchard from Walking the Walk Podcast, Kith CEO Bill Coletti discusses how important leadership is during a crisis and how honesty, transparency, and communication are key qualities a leader must possess. LISTEN HERE
A Lot of Extra Work
Critical takeaways: Communicators will have to do a lot of extra work to tell the story of how we come back from COVID-19. Specific audiences should receive specialized messages that address their particular needs, but those need to be consistent and fit the themes of...
Communicating and Defending a Mask Policy
Critical takeaways: Setting customer expectations is critical to maximizing acceptance of COVID-19 policy changes, and communicating clearly is the key. The reputation risk of mask policies should be evaluated as a balance between the strategic risk of requiring a...
Along Those Lines: Co-op Communications in Times of Crisis
Stephen Bell, NRECA’s senior director for media and public relations, and Bill Coletti, CEO of the reputation management firm Kith, talk us through their advice on how to plan for, respond to and recover from events that interrupt our normal course of business. ...
Everyone Is Just “Over It”
Critical Takeaways Communicators do not have the luxury of being “over it.” We have to figure out what to say next. Learn to surf when you are stuck in crashing waves. Ask three questions to help create a bigger future. In the spirit of being real, let’s just start...
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
3 Questions (and Answers) On CEO Authenticity
By Bill Coletti, CEO, Kith An interesting question: who’s the most authentic CEO in the world? Yes, authentic. Authentic as defined by the dictionary is “Representing one’s true nature or beliefs; true to oneself or to the person identified.” Or more simply put: REAL. We’re used to ranking CEOs by innovation (i.e. Jeff Bezos) or market share (i.e. Tim...
Death By Binder
Crisis binders are outdated and a risk to your reputation By Bill Coletti, CEO, Kith I’m going to let you in on a secret that may upset my fellow crisis communications experts. Those binders you have on your shelf right now? The ones a consultant charged you and your company thousands of dollars to create? They’re worthless. We often see companies trying...
Brick By Brick: Rebuilding Your Reputation Post-Crisis
Why post-crisis is the best time for your company to ideate on its reputation https://youtu.be/H3-rUP_W9kM Critical takeaways: Pattern recognition helps communicators anticipate what is likely to happen next Awareness of risks present, past and future helps organizations recover their reputations more effectively Values alignment post-crisis ensures a...
CEO’s Abrupt Exit Puts Fintech Firm in Spotlight
Bill Coletti, Kith's CEO was featured in the Wall Street Journal's Risk & Compliance Journal Crisis of the Week: CEO’s Abrupt Exit Puts Fintech Firm in Spotlight “The SoFi board was forced to act quickly and did so in a way that was transparent and compassionate–it just took two bites. SoFi likely wishes it had removed Mr. Cagney right away rather than...
Critical Moments: The New Mindset in Reputation Management
Bill Coletti's new book Critical Moments : The New Mindset of Reputation Management is now available in digital and hardback formats on Amazon. New Book from Crisis and Reputation Management Expert Helps CEOs and Communicators Navigate Crises, Build Reputation “How many fires have you put out today?” A new book from crisis communications and...
In Crisis Response and Recovery, Industry Matters
In specific industries, PR nightmares mean a lot less to the profit side of things.
Uber’s Post-Crisis Playbook: Assessment
Uber’s PR nightmare may not be completely over, but it’s certainly come to a turning point. The forced resignation of Uber CEO Travis Kalanick is viewed by many as as the first step in getting the company back on track and back in the public’s good graces. But there is much work to be done. At Kith, we say that a company owns its brand, but the public owns...
Think Like a CEO, Act Like a Communicator
By Bill Coletti, CEO, Kith https://youtu.be/5lZV34tqQtU When you work in crisis communications, you’re never in short supply of interesting stories to tell. Each of us has tales of overcoming seemingly impossible obstacles, cringeworthy missteps or any other number of crazy things that can happen when you work in crisis. But when you’ve worked in...
Reputation Management Councils: Creating a Crisis Early Warning System
Reputation Management Councils: Creating a Crisis Early Warning System By Bill Coletti, CEO, Kith CRITICAL TAKEAWAYS Mitigating risk is critical for crisis readiness Reputation Management Council enables you look around corners The High Impact Agenda maximizes productivity and accountability Like most, I’ve been startled a time or two by my iPhone’s...
WEBINAR REPLAY – Stakeholder Maps Leave You Lost: How to Simplify Stakeholder Engagement and Impress Those That Matter
By Bill Coletti, CEO, Kith Critical Takeaways Impressing your stakeholders is the most important aspect of reputation management All of your stakeholders fall into one of three groups: Communities, Customers or Critics Understanding the needs and motivations of these groups will allow you to create messages that impress https://youtu.be/ktCJu4iN1p0...
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.