The Cost of Recovering from Self-Inflicted Wounds
By Nora Jacobs, Hennes Communications Those who have weathered crisis events within their organizations know that there are many costs the event can inflict – not including the heavy emotional and personal toll on those charged with responding to it. Some costs, such as lost business, staff defections, fines and jail time can be […]
Crisis Management Requires Truth, Not Obfuscation
By Bruce Hennes, Hennes Communications There are some people who believe President Donald Trump and his closest advisers committed illegal acts by conspiring with Russian officials before and after the 2016 presidential election. Others believe the president and his advisers indeed had contacts with Russian officials, but that those contacts were benign and not criminal. […]
The Spokesperson Blues: Why Picking the Wrong Spokesperson Can Blow Your Crisis Management Strategy
[by Howard Fencl, Hennes Communications] “No comment” is never a good option for an organization in the crosshairs of controversy or crisis. It’s a frequent knee-jerk reaction by people who are unprepared for media scrutiny. “No comment” almost always comes off as “guilty as charged” in news reports. Jamming your hand over the lens of a […]
Are Women Leaders More Calm In A Crisis? 6 Tips On Keeping Cool
TAKE THE LEAD prepares, develops, inspires and propels women to take their fair and equal share of leadership positions across all sectors by 2025. Here, a provocative piece by Michele Weldon: Do you have what it takes to maintain control in a severe crisis? Southwest Airlines pilot Tammie Jo Shults, a veteran pilot of three […]
Weasel Words: The Lexicon of TV Pundits (But Not Exclusively)
From CommPro, written by Arthur Solomon, Public Relations Consultant: Depending upon which dictionary you use, a weasel will be defined as “sneaky or untrustworthy,” (Meriram-Webster); “achieve something by use of cunning or deceit,” (Oxford Living Dictionaries); or “a word used “to temper the forthrightness of a statement; that makes one’s views equivocal, misleading or confusing,” (Dictionary.com). Perhaps […]
Once a Social Media Crisis Hits, the Reputation Management Clock is Ticking
From New York Times staff writer Michael Grynbaum: The toppling of Roseanne Barr — from her racist late-night tweet to the early-morning backlash and ABC’s axing of her highly rated show — took less than 12 hours. That is the equivalent of hyperspeed for businesses and brands that are accustomed to taking their time when […]
Facebook Adopts ‘Community Standards’ – Have You?
[By Thom Fladung/Hennes Communications] Facebook recently revealed what content it’s going to allow its users to post – and what’s not allowed. If you have social media channels like a Facebook page that invites comments or a website or some other digital platform where people can comment, you should do the same. The Bay Area […]
Are Women Leaders More Calm In A Crisis? 6 Tips On Keeping Cool
From Michelle Weldon, writing in Take the Lead: Gender may or not play a role in how a leader handles a crisis, but as a women leader, you can decide how you will behave. And it is likely you will have a crisis on your hands eventually. “A disaster is a moment of truth for […]
Reading Body Language at Work: Five Mistakes You Don’t Want to Make
From Carol Kinsey Goman: Human beings are genetically programmed to look for facial and behavioral cues and to quickly understand their meaning. We see someone gesture and automatically make a judgment about the intention of that gesture. And we’ve been doing this for a long, long time. As a species we knew how to win […]
After a Slow Start, Starbucks Mounts a Textbook Response to Events in Philadelphia
[By Nora Jacobs, Hennes Communications] Starbucks is certainly no stranger to controversy. Past dust-ups include its “war on Christmas,” the year the company issued a simple red cup for the holidays, and the campaign designed to improve race relations built on asking baristas to write “RaceTogether” on coffee cups. Both of those efforts were minuscule […]