Adding Self-Awareness, Compassion to the Crisis Toolkit
By Anne Green for O’Dwyers
In May of 2010, BP’s then-CEO uttered what must’ve become one of the most infamous phrases in the annals of crisis communications: “There is no one who wants this over more than I do. I would like my life back.”
The leader in question, Tony Hayward, already had a reputation for making cringe-inducing declarations, as a Fortune reporter observed that year. In the context of the large-scale—and, at the time, still unresolved—environmental disaster represented by the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, these remarks felt unforgivably self-centered and tone-deaf. This is far from what any senior crisis counselor would want to hear coming from the lips of their CEO or client lead.
Yet, even as the communications leader in me indeed cringed, I was struck by a deeper truth worth exploring: that the comment was made by a person in pain.
In this case, two things were true at once. Hayward’s comments were the precise opposite of the kind of public-facing leadership required in a crisis. And Hayward was experiencing something personally and intensely challenging and likely quite painful. When his comment hit the press, my first thought was “I can’t believe he said that!” My second was, “Wow, what a nakedly honest response.”
I share this anecdote not to advocate for that kind of radical and, frankly, misplaced honesty. Far from it. What interests me—and should interest anyone providing counsel to leaders in challenging times—is the humanity of this moment.
Hayward’s comment was profoundly revealing of the psychological landscape of individuals under extreme public pressure, especially if that individual is the ultimate locus of organizational accountability. Clichés like “it’s lonely at the top” or, if you prefer something more Shakespearean, “uneasy is a head that wears a crown” ring true in these moments. We’d be well-served as crisis experts to remember this.
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