Month: January 2014

Bad behavior followed by a total lack of crisis management does not bode well for the latest politician to be caught behaving badly

New York Congressman Michael Grimm (R-Staten Island) is the latest politico to lose it on camera, and it’s not pretty. In an interview for New York’s NY1 News just after the recent State of the Union address, Rep. Grimm answers a couple of questions, then quickly gets out of the shot once reporter Michael Sotto gears up to ask him about alleged campaign finance violations from his camp.

Now here’s where it gets ugly – as soon as Sotto signs off with a, “back to you” for the studio, the Congressman stalks back in and gets in Sotto’s face, telling him, “Let me be clear to you, you ever do that to me again and I’ll throw you off this f#%@!ing balcony.” They trade a few more words, then Grimm threatens Sotto once again, shouting, “You’re not man enough, you’re not man enough. I’ll break you in half. Like a boy!”

The cameraman, a true pro, kept rolling through the whole thing, producing indisputable evidence of the incident.

What crisis management tactic would Grimm employ? Well…none apparently. Here’s his quite unapologetic statement explaining what happened:

“I was extremely annoyed because I was doing NY1 a favor by rushing to do their interview first in lieu of several other requests. The reporter knew that I was in a hurry and was only there to comment on the State of the Union, but insisted on taking a disrespectful and cheap shot at the end of the interview, because I did not have time to speak off-topic. I verbally took the reporter to task and told him off, because I expect a certain level of professionalism and respect, especially when I go out of my way to do that reporter a favor. I doubt that I am the first member of Congress to tell off a reporter, and I am sure I won’t be the last.”

This is not a gag, the above really is the statement issued by the Congressman after being caught threatening to maim or kill a member of the media on camera in the middle of the Capitol, which is why we don’t exactly need a crystal ball to see a bit of trouble in Grimm’s future.

Update 1/29: Grimm has reportedly apologized to Michael Sotto in a telephone call, along with releasing a new, far more politically correct, statement. NY1 reports:

Staten Island Rep. Michael Grimm has apologized to NY1 political reporter Michael Scotto a day after physically threatening him at the conclusion of an interview in the Capitol Rotunda following the president’s State of the Union address.

Grimm called Scotto Wednesday morning and offered the verbal apology saying he “overreacted.”

Scotto tells NY1 he accepted the apology and believes that it was sincere.

Grimm also released a written apology following the phone call.

It reads, “I was wrong. I shouldn’t have allowed my emotions to get the better of me and lose my cool. I have apologized to Michael Scotto, which he graciously accepted, and will be scheduling a lunch soon. In the weeks and months ahead I’ll be working hard for my constituents on issues like flood insurance that is so desperately needed in my district post Sandy.”

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For more resources, see the Free Management Library topic: Crisis Management
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[Jonathan Bernstein is president of Bernstein Crisis Management, Inc., an international crisis management consultancy, author of Manager’s Guide to Crisis Management and Keeping the Wolves at Bay – Media Training. Erik Bernstein is Social Media Manager for the firm, and also editor of its newsletter, Crisis Manager]

Never rely on your first option working out perfectly

So, you’ve put together a killer crisis management plan, heck you’ve even actually practiced it! Good to go, right?

Not so fast. As a wise man once said, sh*t happens, and you’d better believe it can, and will, happen when you’re already fighting to keep your head above water. What can you do, then, to help prevent things from falling into chaos should your original plan fail? Integrated Media Strategies’ Norman Smit summed it up using a fantastic analogy:

Always have a Plan B

Skydivers plan a recovery strategy if things go wrong during a jump. Many will have an altimeter on their wrist and an audible altimeter in their helmet that signals when it’s time to deploy a canopy. They have a reserve canopy in case the main malfunctions. Many have an automatic opening device that will deploy their reserve in the event of unconsciousness. By comparison, how prepared is your organization? Have you run through a range of scenarios that are critical to your organization and planned for what to do if something goes wrong? While working in broadcasting as a news Executive Producer, I always had an extra story in the line-up in the event a satellite feed to a live event went down, or, back in the day, the tape machine ate the tape. And it isn’t enough to have a Plan B on paper. Can your number two person use the software to issue the media release under pressure or access Hootsuite to post to social media if the number one person is in hospital with appendicitis? Have they been trained on what to do and can they demonstrate what they were shown eight months or a year later?

Life is simply too chaotic and unpredictable to put all your eggs in one basket. For example, if at all possible, every person in the crisis team should have a understudy who should be able to, if not flawlessly execute, at least cover the main responsibilities of their role. In a pinch, perhaps when you have limited resources, it’s okay to cross-train multiple people for multiple roles, but keep in mind even the best-intentioned of employees has a limit to how much they can handle at one time.

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For more resources, see the Free Management Library topic: Crisis Management
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[Jonathan Bernstein is president of Bernstein Crisis Management, Inc., an international crisis management consultancy, author of Manager’s Guide to Crisis Management and Keeping the Wolves at Bay – Media Training. Erik Bernstein is Social Media Manager for the firm, and also editor of its newsletter, Crisis Manager]

Will the uproar from NASA and the family of astronauts on the mission force the singer to change her song?

We all know pop stars like to use shock value to pump up the sales, but a song from Beyonce’s latest album has crossed the line, and ticked a lot of people off in the process.

Current and former NASA astronauts, family members of those lost in the explosion, and members of the public (at least those old enough to realize the sound bite is from a real-life event) were outraged to hear that Beyonce’s new release, “XO”, includes audio of a NASA public affairs officer speaking as the Challenger explosion unfolded.

The space organization itself, which rarely comments on public matters, felt moved to issue the following statement:

“The Challenger accident is an important part of our history, a tragic reminder that space exploration is risky and should never be trivialized. NASA works every day to honor the legacy of our fallen astronauts as we carry out our mission to reach for new heights and explore the universe.”

Many are calling for Beyonce to remove the clip, but for now it looks like her camp is leaning on a not-quite apology as crisis management for the situation. Here’s what she had to say:

“My heart goes out to the families of those lost in the Challenger disaster. The song ‘XO’ was recorded with the sincerest intention to help heal those who have lost loved ones and to remind us that unexpected things happen, so love and appreciate every minute that you have with those who mean the most to you. The songwriters included the audio in tribute to the unselfish work of the Challenger crew with hope that they will never be forgotten.”

We don’t like to use the term “spin doctoring,” but if anything fits that description, then this is it. In the end, considering Beyonce’s rabid fanbase doesn’t seem too fazed by the soundbite, she’ll probably manage to get away with what is (at least in our eyes) an indisputably unethical move either way.

Of course, she could always do the right thing and replace the clip with something less hurtful, but that would involve actually being the caring person she claims to be.

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For more resources, see the Free Management Library topic: Crisis Management
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[Jonathan Bernstein is president of Bernstein Crisis Management, Inc., an international crisis management consultancy, author of Manager’s Guide to Crisis Management and Keeping the Wolves at Bay – Media Training. Erik Bernstein is Social Media Manager for the firm, and also editor of its newsletter, Crisis Manager]

Competent, confident, and compassionate – the Three C’s of Crisis Communications

Renown Regional Medical Center was the scene of a tragic shooting incident last month when a man calmly walked into a doctor’s office and fired, killing two and wounding two more. As the scene of the crime, and a large area service provider, Renown had a duty to deliver information to its stakeholders regarding the incident. Problem is, while Renown did well in appearing confident and competent, two of the Three C’s of Crisis Communication, it utterly failed to convey the third, and perhaps most important, C – compassion.

While the first two can be done simply by laying out the facts, compassion requires a bit more thought, and thus seems to slip off the radar of an incredible number of organizations. This is clearly what happened at Renown, which put out the following robot-esque statement on its website hours after the shooting:

We can confirm that there was a shooting in a professional office building located on the northeast corner of the Renown Regional Medical Center campus. The police have secured the campus, and we are cooperating fully with the investigation. We will provide more details as they become available.

After law enforcement was on the scene and had evaluated the danger, Renown got another chance, but failed once again to include a single drop of compassion:

Renown Regional Medical Center has returned to normal business operations. People are able to come and go as needed. However, everyone is encouraged to avoid the NE corner of the hospital campus. We continue to work with the Reno Police Department on their investigation.

These days, stakeholders want to know that you care, and the way you show that is through compassion. A simple expression of understanding for the fear and sadness the local community was surely feeling would have gone a long way to help with crisis management for the situation, but instead Renown simply put up a couple of bullet points and went back to business as usual.

Is this the type of mistake that will put you out of business? Well, honestly, no. Is this the type of mistake that will slowly poison public opinion against you until you wake up one morning wondering why all of the chatter about your organization seems to be negative? Absolutely.

Include compassion in every message you put out, and you’ll suddenly find a lot more people are willing to listen.

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For more resources, see the Free Management Library topic: Crisis Management
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[Jonathan Bernstein is president of Bernstein Crisis Management, Inc., an international crisis management consultancy, author of Manager’s Guide to Crisis Management and Keeping the Wolves at Bay – Media Training. Erik Bernstein is Social Media Manager for the firm, and also editor of its newsletter, Crisis Manager]