Why ‘meaning-making’ matters In every crisis, it is essential that government and public sector leaders provide a compelling story. A good crisis narrative teaches the public about the realities of the predicament. It conveys what leaders know, do not know and cannot know, and what they are doing to figure out as much as possible. […]
By Constantinos C. Markides and Andrew MacLennan for Harvard Business Review A pilot once told us a story about an accident on an early morning flight in the 1950s. As the aircraft accelerated to take off, the captain noticed his flight engineer’s sullen expression and called out, “Cheer up, George.” But in his sleepy state, […]
From our colleague, Annie Searle… Like practitioners in other disciplines that continue to evolve in a complex technological world, the maturity of risk managers varies widely. In recovering from the 2008 financial crisis, we’ve seen corporate managers rebrand themselves into this field or get promoted into it without necessarily understanding risk frameworks or methodologies. There […]
Introduction by Bruce Hennes, Hennes Communications Founded in 1989, Hennes Communications initially served as a full-service public relations firm. The landscape shifted dramatically following the 9/11 attacks when we pivoted to crisis communications and crisis management, becoming […]
Mike Janko is a good friend and colleague for those of us at Hennes Communications. Mike is one of the toughest guys we know. He even smiles – sometimes. What we can’t understand is why he isn’t stoop-shouldered, given the responsibilities he carries, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Mike works for The […]
From our very good friend, Tony Jaques, Director of Issue Outcomes Pty Ltd, in North Melbourne, Australia… We all know and recognise them. Dial-a-quote CEOs and business leaders who love to be on TV and offer an opinion on every issue-of-the-day. Problem is they often mistake being provocative and controversial for making a thoughtful contribution to advancing […]
From Ron Carucci and Caroline Mehl, writing for The Harvard Business Review… In the wake of 2023’s turbulent social and political landscape that has spilled over into 2024, business leaders face a compounding challenge as the U.S. presidential election approaches. The campaign vitriol has already begun, and many leaders are dreading what this is going […]
By Nicole Schuman for PRNews How Not to Report on Women’s Basketball What happened: This week’s WNBA draft continued to bask in the afterglow of an historic Women’s NCAA March Madness tournament and welcome some of its newest and brightest stars. Caitlin Clark mania continued for the Indiana Fever, who drafted the University of Iowa star […]
NOTE: The original title of this article is Defending Against Courtroom Conspiracies Through Storytelling. We took the editorial liberty of removing “Courtroom” from the title of this introduction in the hope that non-attorneys will read this, too. Introduction by Bruce Hennes, Hennes Communications In 2024, misinformation continues to be a pervasive force across all sectors […]
By Howard Fencl and Thom Fladung for Hennes Communications “Nothing in the Constitution requires the Government freely to grant access to all who wish to exercise their right to free speech on every type of Government property without regard to the nature of the property or to the disruption that might be caused by the […]