A Playbook for CEOs Attacked by Trump: Thrust, Parry, Ignore
From Kevin Miller, writing for Bloomberg: (Bloomberg) — Bosses of the world’s largest corporations are still learning to deal with one modern peril: when President Donald Trump shows he’s not afraid to call them out on Twitter. General Motors Corp. is the latest example. Even though Chief Executive Officer Mary Barra reached out to to […]
The Stakes are Higher for Women in Charge of Safety
By Rachel Schallom, writing for Poynter: The first time I made a security decision, my stomach was in knots from the moment I said yes to the second I got the text confirming the reporter was home safely. This wasn’t an international story. The reporter took a short car ride to the assignment and would […]
2018’s Best Crisis Management Response: The Crisis Was Live, Southwest Airlines Was Ready
By Thom Fladung/Hennes Communications We’re hard-wired to hope bad news goes away. And when that hope is dashed, as it so often is, we hope that the fewest number of people possible find out about our bad news. So, imagine your bad news being broadcast live to potentially millions of people. That’s what Southwest Airlines […]
The Body Language of Collaboration
From Carol Kinsey Goman: Most leaders agree that effective collaboration is more important than ever in today’s turbulent business environment. But the collaboration so critical to organizations is being blocked by internal power struggles, by a lack of unified goals and rewards, by a self-preservation instinct that results in information hoarding — and, perhaps surprisingly, […]
How Companies Should Handle Media Attention Amid Criminal Allegations
From our colleague, Rob Glickman, principal, head of litigation and criminal practice; McCarthy, Lebit, Crystal & Liffman: When companies become tied to a criminal investigation, whether or not it or its employees have actually committed a crime, it can be on trial in both the criminal court and the court of public opinion. Media coverage today […]
Damage Control: Recovering Your Firm’s Reputation After a Breach
From Kathy O’Brien, writing in the National Law Review: You can regain trust after a cyber breach. Here’s how. In March 2016, the FBI warned that hackers were targeting large international law firms to steal confidential client information and use it for insider trading, corporate espionage and other criminal purposes. Are law firms any more secure now? […]
Q&A: Is telling the truth really always a good idea for crisis communications? I see plenty of people caught up in crises who I don’t think are telling the truth.
Telling the truth is an absolute necessity if you or your organization is caught up in a crisis. First, of course, it’s the morally right thing to do. But if morals aren’t your cup of tea, pragmatically it’s the right thing to do. The truth will come out. And if the truth shows you’ve been […]
With Cybersecurity #1 Feared Threat, Here’s How To Boot Up Your Crisis Communication Plans
By Thom Fladung/Hennes Communications When working with companies and organizations on crisis communication plans, we ask a simple question to the leadership team: What keeps you up at night? The #1 answer for businesses across the world is becoming clear: cybersecurity. Infosecurity Magazine, citing the 11th Annual Survey of Emerging Risks involving 200 risk managers […]
Walking the Talk: Matching your Internal and External Brands Pays Dividends in a Crisis
[by Howard Fencl, Hennes Communications] Having trouble hiring and retaining quality millennials? Are anonymous Twitter and Facebook users perennially posting ugly rumors or grousing about the work culture at your company? And why does the media always seem to break news about your company before you’re ready to release it? There may be a serious […]
How to Pull Off a Professional Video Call From Home
By Kevin Purdy, writing for The Wirecutter: Like parsley in your teeth or a hole in your pants, a bad video-call setup is something you’ll hear about only from people who care about you. But even if you have the best webcam, there’s a good chance that your lighting, your backdrop, your connection, or even your […]