Leadership in a Crisis: Blood on the Floor of Name Adored?

Showing Leadership in a Crisis: Blood on the Floor or Name Adored? Webinar by Jane Jordan-Meier

7 December 2011

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Jane Jordan-Meier

• President of Jane Jordan & Associates, boutique consultancy specializing in high-stakes communication

• Author of “The Four Highly Effective Stages of Crisis Management: How to Manage the Media in a Crisis” (May, 2011)

• Pioneered four-stage methodology for crisis management adopted in Australia, New Zealand and North America

• Founder of Media Skills USA, international Media Training Academy

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Agenda

Part 1: Presentation

Setting the Scene

- What is a Crisis? How is your “Trust Environment?” Impact of Digital Age

What makes an effective leader during a crisis?

- Characteristics, Impressions, Case studies

Role of “front-line” in a crisis

Part 2: Q & A

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What is a Crisis?

• A show-stopping, people-stopping, product- stopping, country-stopping event

• Media spotlight is firmly on you, your brand, your response

– Significant business interruption

– Single moment in time

ALL crises have TRIGGERING events

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Why Crisis Management has Changed Forever

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Crises are Defining Moments 6

POLL: Characteristics of Crisis Leader 7

Community Wants Leaders Who... 8

• Take action by acknowledging problems and committing to solutions

• Accept responsibility, build support and invite help

• Prepare for contingencies; if the only strategy is to win in a court of law, leaders can lose in the “court of public opinion”

• Are realists, never minimize the impact or declare the resolution of a problem until it is truly resolved

• Show and express concern for people and that their troubles matter more than those of the organization

Essential Characteristics

• Truly authentic – unwavering honesty

• Credibility is CRITICAL (nanosecond)

• High level of Integrity – comes from “inside”

• Sensitivity – demonstrates compassion, yet impassive to drama & excitement

• Steadiness – rock hard concentration, decisiveness

• Stamina – must accommodate fatigue & retain responsive edge

• Superior Communication Skills

• Strategic and detailed

• Vision and Courage

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Head and Heart: How to “be” 10

“Fall in Love” with We

“

“Together, we

will survive …” Bob Parker, Mayor,

Christchurch, NZ

“We are Queenslanders," she said.

We're the people they breed tough

north of the border. We're the ones

that they knock down, and we get up

again. It might be breaking our hearts,

but it will not break our will.””Anna Bligh, Qld

Premier, Australia

Why some Leaders Shine and Others Fail

• Unconditional honesty from start

“The number of casualties,” he

said, “will be more than any of us can bear ultimately.”

• Excellent communication skills

• Appropriate mix of shared loss and consuming anger, Churchillian-like

• Obfuscation "The Gulf of Mexico is a very big ocean,"

he was quoted as saying by Daily Mail. "The volume of oil and dispersant we are putting into it is tiny in relation to the total water volume.“

• Blame game "This was not our accident … This was

not our drilling rig ... This was Transocean's rig. Their systems. Their people. Their

equipment."

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Impressions Matter

“most humble day of my life” Rupert Murdoch, July 19, 2011

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Values are on Display: Does leader support them?

• "Tragically, our products have been linked to illness and loss of life. To those people who are ill, and to the families who have lost loved ones, I offer my deepest and sincerest sympathies.“ Michael McCain, CEO

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"We’re sorry for the massive disruption it’s

caused their lives. There’s no one who

wants this over more than I do. I would

like my life back." Tony Hayward, BP

Head and Heart 15

Educate & Empower Front-Line 16

Role of the Front-Line Leaders during a Crisis

• “Flanks” prepared, drilled and on message will help protect business in crisis: effective team-work is critical in crisis

• Front-line are “closer” to the action

• Employees want to be involved – ask them how

• CEOs are important but not only voice for their organizations

• In digital age move away from command and control to enablement and empowerment

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Front-Line: What to Do

EMPOWER AND EDUCATE

• Censorship is NOT the answer guidelines & open communication are

• Train the front-line in basic media awareness

• Involve in desk-top, brain-storming exercises

• Cross-functional, inter-disciplinary teams (marketing, legal, PR, HR, customer-facing)

• Involve them in “trust-bank” efforts – monetary incentives don’t work, purpose does

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What we can Learn

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What Not To Do 20

• Be silent when answers are needed

• Start a blaming game

• Banning dissenters/censoring

- censoring only fuels outrage

• Insult your customers

- sometimes it’s better to say nothing

• Tone begets tone

Crisis Management Ten Commandments

1. You shall always have a crisis plan and keep it handy. 2. You shall tell it all, tell it fast and tell it honestly. 3. You shall stare the devil down and be brave. 4. You shall love the media, new and old and embrace them. 5. You shall communicate widely, consistently and be action-based. 6. You shall have a crisis management team. 7. You shall practice and train and you shall like it. 8. You shall have trained spokespersons, including the front-line,

and use them consistently. 9. You shall refuse temptation to blame, speculate and muddy the

waters. 10. You shall demonstrate compassion.

Adapted from Evan Bloom, MD of Crisis Communications Consultancy

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“Think politically. Overcome a natural

aloofness and protectiveness. Become

aware of the concerns of others. Reach out

for ongoing dialogue with new publics. The

goal, very bluntly, is survival …”

Nestle executive talking at business school lecture

Survival Tactics… 22

Final Thoughts

“What happens in Vegas stays on Google” Scott Monty, social media guru, Ford Motor Co

“Internet is written in ink not

pencil” Mark Zuckerberg’s girlfriend in movie “The Social Network”

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Jane Jordan-Meier

www.crisismanagementbook.com

@janejordanmeier (Twitter)

jane@janejordan.net

“The Four Highly Effective Stages of Crisis Management: How to Manage the Media in the Digital Age” published by CRC Press, May 2011 USA: +1-707-386-9864

Australia: + 614-14 645 507

Thank You! Do connect.

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