Finding the crisis leader
Leaders who aren’t up to date with modern crisis management can hinder the organisation's response…
When a crisis hits an organisation it is the time for the person at the top to show what they are made of. Can they respond with empathy? Can they motivate the whole organisation to respond and tackle the situation? Will they be able to step up or will they go into hiding?
Being comfortable in a crisis leadership role doesn’t just happen and it needs those at the top of the business to all be fully invested in the planning processes. If leaders don’t know the plans, if they haven’t considered the communication and if they are not up to date with modern crisis management it will hinder the response.
When I speak to communicators they are often concerned that crisis communication is not given the priority that it needs. They may just be seen as the mouthpiece of the organisation putting out the messages that they are given. This is an approach from many years ago. It is from a time before social media, before the rise of the TikTok ‘expert’ and before the knowledge of inclusive crisis communication. Back in the late 1990s and early 2000s control was at the heart of crisis communication. Businesses had the stranglehold over information and what they would say when. But not now.
If you don’t step in and take the initiative to explain what has happened and the response that is underway others will. In the worst cases people will look to others, to so-called experts, to anyone who can fill in the void. There are many examples of when this has happened. Most recently the Ohio train derailment has shown the long term damage that can be done when the crisis response doesn’t connect with people. If they don’t trust you then they will trust someone else.
Getting those at the top of the business to see this is not simple. It takes a lot of persuasion, of sharing those case studies of how things have worked or have failed. They need easy steps to take that will put them in the driving seat. If they become open to coaching or training then give them the support they need. It may mean crisis response coaching, looking at decision making under pressure, or crisis media training but no matter what grab that chance to connect them to the crisis leadership role.
An effective leader will recognise the responsibilities they have when the worst happens and is willing to take the difficult decisions. As communicators we can help to point the way forward.
Amanda Coleman is a crisis communication expert and consultant, Founder of Amanda Coleman Communication and the author of Crisis Communication Strategies.
This post was originally published on her Amandacomms blog. Read the original post.