Recent Articles

Communication and Credibility

September 28, 2010 00:09

There was a lot of buzz recently about a study conducted by the Stanford Graduate School of Business titled, “Detecting Deceptive Discussions in Conference Calls.” The study’s authors analyzed transcripts of nearly 30,000 conference calls by American CEOs and CFOs between 2003...

Expecting the Unexpected....The Crisis Audit

August 20, 2010 19:17

  We’ve talked before about crisis prevention in general. With any of the crises we’ve seen this summer, it would be hard to say, “This came completely out of the blue.” That’s because we all have an inkling of what could happen but few of us want...

Is Anyone Ever Really "Off-the-Record" in the Digital Age?

July 06, 2010 19:24

General Stanley McCrystal, Virginia Senator George Allen and Carly Fiorina, among others, have learned the hard way that in today’s 24/7 news, blog, twitter and YouTube world, nothing is “off-the-record” and everything, even the most petty remarks, are up for endless...

Crisis 101: Responding to Media Inquiries

June 10, 2010 18:26

No matter what your crisis is, and no matter what your media strategy may be, the best way to manage a crisis is to respond to reporters and to do so in a timely manner. It may sound obvious, but too many companies fail to do this, whether because executives have stuck their heads in the sand,...

Crisis 201 (Beyond the Basics): Win the Legal Battle or the Moral War?

June 03, 2010 19:56

Whenever I have been faced with counseling a CEO going before the press or Congress to answer for the worst judgments by persons in the CEO’s organization, the tension between reliance upon the regime of legal rights and the decision to accept a broader responsibility is inevitably on the...

Crisis 101: Leave the Finger-Pointing for the Courtroom

May 21, 2010 14:17

In the face of a recall, a disaster, or a crisis, too many attorneys counsel their clients to avoid apologizing and to avoid taking responsibility in order to minimize their legal exposure.  These lawyers would likely have their clients believe that doing so would “open the floodgates of...

Pause Before Hitting "Send"

April 24, 2010 00:25

Just about every day since the digital revolution began, plaintiffs, regulators, prosecutors and members of Congress roll out damning and spicy quotes from email exchanges between employees as the basis of their litigation, investigation, charges or public hearings. And then there are voice...

Mind the Gap! Repairing the Reputation of the Redskins and Your Company

April 07, 2010 17:34

When the news broke on April 4, 2010, that the Eagles traded quarterback Donovan McNabb to the Redskins for a second-round draft pick, many D.C. football fans let out a collective groan that could be heard from Loudoun to Landover. The general sentiment among many fans and local sports media...

Crisis Planning Begins at Home

March 31, 2010 14:37

The tragic and deplorable terrorist attacks in the Moscow subway should remind everyone that crisis management begins at home. Press reports quoted many panicked Muscovites lamenting that they could not locate loved ones and had little information as to whether they were dead or...

The Predicate Story

March 23, 2010 18:04

In time of crisis it is important for companies to establish a pro-active media strategy that includes working with a reporter to get a “predicate story” written. The predicate story tells the whole story—good, bad and ugly—in one place, and serves as a base line story...