You can’t pick your Crisis

If you lead a company or a team, you can’t monitor 24/7 every little bit of the operations you manage. You work in routine, among policies and meetings. Projects and deadlines. Who has the time to proactively audit and assess possible risks?

Make time for it! The first thing to know is that you need to expect the unexpected. “Rule Number 1,” according to Jamie Moldafsky, CMO of Wells Fargo, “is that you don’t get to pick your crisis. You have to be ready.”

We suspect that Skittles probably thought their crisis risk was more likely to come from a food safety problem than from campaign tweets. Others like Nordstrom (see her the video where D. Trump indirectly attacks the brand) and Oreo have similarly found themselves pulled unexpectedly into political debates. Regardless of the cause, the important thing is to have the right people, data, tools, process, and mindset to handle whatever might come your way.

Engine emissions Crisis and lawyers? VW

In September 2015, the U.S Environmental Protection Agency accused Volkswagen of manipulating its engine controls to be able to pass laboratory emissions tests. The company violated the Clean Air Act by selling vehicles that didn’t meet environmental requirements, but it was also violating its customers’ Trust.

Unfortunately, the way the company handled the scandal made things even worse. First, a legal group represented the company. Secondly, the company’s response was seen as inconsistent with facts. Company executives claimed they didn’t know about the cheating, only to reveal they did just a few days later. As the company set out to recall millions of vehicles, officials promised to reimburse some, but not all, customers for their troubles.

Crisis response, don’t leave it to the lawyers

In every Crisis room, I’ve entered, in the first hours the CEO meets with the legal counsel. They need to assess legal risks and impact. But usually lawyers, in a pompous manner, play around with statements, announcements and estimates on how analysts, investors, partners, and media will react.

Now, really, what do they know of Branding and Impact? What about other constituencies as Customers, employees, authorities, and partners. What about Transparency? What about taking responsibility? What about living up to the company’s mission and values? The usual mistake: Head of Marketing and HR are involved later than lawyers. The experts that own wider perspectives on Brand, Internal comms, Media relations/impact, and Storytelling consequences.

It doesn’t matter what you say, unless…

The companies’ digital presence and social media, nowadays, have made sure that a story can grow exponentially and go from zero-to-crisis in a matter of hours. It also means that you don’t have control over the story that you once had through paid media and mass advertising channels.

Back in time, the usual question was “What are we going to say about this?” In the global marketplace, the question has now become “What are others going to say about this?” …shareholders, analysts, bankers, partners, Customers, employees, media and authorities.

It doesn’t matter what you say when the crisis incident is ‘on-air’. If your company doesn’t own enough goodwill and Trust, when the crisis comes, it’s often too late. In other words, unless your CEO is an active influencer in social media; you have a community of brand advocates ready to speak up and support; you have a transparent flow of information 24/7 for years.

The (media) story is always worse than reality

Failing to speed up in responding to a public issue, creates an information void. Media, people, and communities will create their own story, usually ten times worse than the reality.

Failing to align and activate, soon, the senior team creates a Vision gap to the rest of the organization. If your people hear the outside-in story, they follow the internal ‘grapevine’ and Culture momentum is zero.

Failing to respond, in a way that serves your Vision & Values, makes audiences to distrust your message and arguments. Never forget the “Who are we and what is our mission?”

Media always present the negative angles of a story. Stay calm, positive and optimistic. Keep your eyes on the long-term. Then, if you are someone who gives answers and solutions, focus on the user/customer and that you are doing what’s best for them.

In Crisis, control two things

You might not be able to control entirely what audiences say about you. But there is two things you can control: a) Yourself as a leader, and b) Your cautious steps to resolve, address the issue, and inform the public.

A crisis is a crisis. It’s all about how you handle it. And that’s within every leader’s control. Putting out fires is your job.

Don’t forget, fix the problem

Hannah Jones, Chief Sustainability Officer at Nike, believes that a company “should never let a crisis go unused or unleveraged.” In Nike’s case, complaints about working conditions, in the late 1990s, turned into a corporate culture building program. They accepted accountability and began to make the deep, systemic changes internally, in their supply chain, and to embark on a journey of collaboration and advocacy with the industry as a whole.

Sometimes Crisis are symptoms of something that needs to be fixed: product, operations, quality, safety. The lessons learned by executives who have weathered a crisis are relevant to anyone who finds themselves in challenging circumstances.

We all have to get better at overcoming obstacles, dealing with uncertainty, and staying focused in a changing environment. It’s good advice for everyone to be prepared, stay true to your purpose, involve others in solutions, control what you can, and work on the underlying issues.

Is your company ready to tackle business continuity and perception risks?