Confucius tells us that “Life is really simple, but we insist on making it complicated.” Crisis is the shadow that follows every bold decision and for many leaders, fear of that shadow shapes everything they do. But what if that fear wasn’t just unnecessary, but actively holding your organization...
Simulations are one of the most effective ways to prepare your organization for a crisis. They build readiness, clarify roles, strengthen relationships, and help teams respond with speed and confidence when it matters most. As a crisis communicator, you already know this. But getting your...
35 percent. Did I get your attention? It got mine. Only 35% of consulting startups make it to 10 years. Today, I’m proud to say that Kith is part of that 35%. That statistic says a lot. It says that what we do matters. It says that our clients have trusted us through some of their hardest moments....
Like my Kith colleagues, I cut my proverbial teeth in politics. Not as a candidate, but as a campaign staffer and, later, political consultant. Campaigns are great places to train for reputation management and crisis communications because everything is a crisis. The latest mud your opponent threw...
If you’ve ever seen the classic Abbott and Costello sketch "Who’s on First?," you know how quickly things can unravel when no one knows who’s doing what. It’s hilarious on stage, but in a real life crisis, that kind of confusion is anything but funny. Think back to the last time you were called...
You may have heard recently that Perrier’s fizz has gone flat overseas. Parent company Nestlé Waters is facing a major environmental scandal after investigative reports revealed years of illegal waste dumping at its bottling sites, including massive landfills filled with plastic, debris, and even...
Many of us found ourselves abruptly working from home during the Covid pandemic. For some, a return to the office did not occur for months or even years. If you were one such person, you may recall the cognitive dissonance you experienced when you found it exactly as it was the day before you...
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 with them effectively under...
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 worse, backfire. We are in an...
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 us have worked in politics at...
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, and few are feeling that...
Five overlooked ways your industry group can shield, guide, and amplify your voice when it matters most An article in Fortune last week detailed the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s deliberations on whether or not they would sue the Trump administration on behalf of its members to halt its global trade...
Is your organization prepared to respond to a crisis and protect its hard-earned reputation? Take our quiz and find out!