Get out
of here . . .
You want to change the problems
in the world. You didn’t create
them but today’s students are
going to be the ones to solve them.
What is an appropriate response
to hunger, shortage of clean water,
lack of adequate health care, and
to reaching the lost – either here
at home or somewhere else in our
global village?
media come calling and you have the
advantage of “removing the power of
the scoop,” according to Longhurst.
“You’re showing you have nothing to
hide,” he explains.
News releases also demonstrate
proactive rather than reactive crisis
management. If people perceive an
organization isn’t managing a crisis well, that
communications seem
defensive or that the
crisis is deepening, they
might stop giving to or
participating in the life
and work of that organization. Multiply that sort
of wait-and-see attitude
across dozens, hundreds or even thousands of supporters and any organization could be in serious trouble.
But if stakeholders see strong,
compassionate, transparent leadership that responds appropriately to
mistakes and humbly takes responsibility for failings, they are more likely
to remain supportive, believing the
organization will come through the
crisis with integrity intact.
the company was highly visible from the
time the crisis hit. “The firm’s CEO, Michael McCain, held press conferences
and posted an apology on its website. A
company spokesperson did interviews
in a wide range of media. The firm also
ran TV spots and took out advertisements in newspapers,” notes the CBC.
PRWeek Canada reported on a study conducted by Leger Marketing, which found it took
less than five months for
the company to regain
“its reputation with previous customers to above
pre-crisis levels.”
And at year-end, the
Canadian Press named Michael McCain CEO of the year – all in the wake
of a crisis that saw human lives lost and
millions in shareholder value disappear
overnight.
If the crisis
is such that
the media
come calling,
never say
”no comment”
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you we invite you to learn more.
You will discover opportunities.
Today you only imagine yourself
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When what needs to be
communicated is ” We’re sorry”
“The leadership profile you want is
candor, transparency and competency,” says Matthews. “Candor means
you’re dealing straightforwardly with
the facts of the case. Transparency is
about admitting responsibility to a reasonable degree. It’s about saying: ‘Yes,
this didn’t work. We’re responsible
and here’s how.’ Competency is simply
conducting yourself in a manner that
says, ‘I know what I’m doing.’”
In the summer of 2008, a crisis in
corporate Canada provided a remarkable glimpse of all three qualities in the
person of Michael McCain. The Maple
Leaf Foods CEO earned broad praise
for his company’s crisis communications efforts surrounding the listeria
outbreak. A report on cbc.ca observes
Guided by the Light
It used to be that the media – and thus
the broader public – pretty much ignored what went on in the Christian
community. When crises hit, churches
and ministries could deal with the
fallout within the boundaries of their
own organizations. But that’s no longer the case.
As Christian organizations have
become increasingly outreach focused
– and have thus increased their influence beyond the confines of their own
faith communities – they’ve also become increasingly accountable to the
world into which they reach.
Fortunately, the same values that
mould excellent crisis communications
strategies – honesty, integrity, truth,
compassion, humility and transparency – are values all Christians should
be comfortable upholding.
Patricia Paddey is a Mississauga-based
freelance writer and communications
consultant.
