Crisis Leadership Blog
Insights and perspectives on being the lighthouse during a crisis.
The Shockingly Long Tail of Crisis
Around here, we warn clients about the long tail of crisis. It’s when the effects of a crisis can drag on for a long time, with unexpected problems, and damage, popping up well after things seem like they’ve settled down. It’s also known as “the ripples,” and can pose...
Trust Carriers & Credibility
Here’s one of the most overlooked truths in crisis communication: The messenger matters as much as the message. You can have a perfect statement, a perfect plan, and a perfect rollout. But if it comes from someone your stakeholders don’t trust, it will fall flat. Or...
More on Knowing Your Stakeholders: Seeing the World through Their Eyes
In our last post, we discussed the importance of mapping your stakeholders. Now it’s time to really understand them. And the whole thinking for this series was spurred by this column about where people get their information. While Kith is politically agnostic, all of...
Know Your Stakeholders
If you’ve been around a moment, you’ve heard or read about our Kith formula: Clarity + Trust = Strategic Speed. Today, I want to talk about just one piece of Clarity: Knowing your stakeholders. That means knowing who matters, what they value, and how to communicate...
When Your Leader Falls Out of Fashion
Lately, we’ve seen organizations in the news that have failed to prepare for an uncomfortable scenario: when the threat comes from within. It’s unsettling to imagine a business unraveling due to the actions of an insider (whether intentional or not). But it happens,...
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
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 not necessitate an emergency on mine. When it comes to crisis...
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 crisis response. Anything that creates unnecessary friction...
Pump up the Volume
Every time I open up LinkedIn, PR Week, or the Wall Street Journal, I see someone writing about AI and the immense change that it is having on the communications industry -- everything from how we create to how we spot fake news to how we staff. One issue that I haven’t seen discussed much is how the mere existence of AI needs to change the VOLUME that...
Then Came the Lawyers …
I still chuckle and roll my eyes when the latest prescription drug ad says, “Don’t take Wonderdrug if you're allergic to it.” Well, duh. Welcome to the disclaimer pantheon compelling us to write “Caution: Hot” on coffee cups. “Do not attempt” accompanies any example of off-road driving a car is specifically designed and marketed to do. “Contains peanuts”...
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 better to find out there’s a critical flaw in your crisis...
Litigation Threats Are Invitations for Legal and Comms to Work Together
Few words bring a C-Suite conversation to a screeching halt like, “We need to think about litigation.” Instead of killing the conversation, it should start a conversation … between the legal team and the communications team. Attorneys’ primary goal is to limit their clients’ exposure to legal liability. Communications teams’ primary goal is to limit...
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 quickly realize that it’s true. Canadians are by and large nice,...
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 reputation must now pay attention to Crazy, because Crazy can...
Lessons from Litigators for the Court of Public Opinion
Hall of Fame basketball coach Bobby Knight once said, “The key is not the will to win – everybody has that. It is the will to prepare to win that is important.” Preparation is one of the key differences between people who win consistently and those who win occasionally, accidentally, or not at all. This applies in sports, in business, and in court....
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, healthy new year, new start etc. One that has caught my eye...
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.