Six Reputation Resolutions for the New Year
[By Nora Jacobs]
2014 was a rocky year for reputation management – from the NFL and Hollywood, to Main Street USA and the corporate board room, entities of all sorts lost ground due to both bad behavior and bad communications. As we embark on a new year, here are six resolutions designed to protect your organization’s most important asset.
One: tell the truth. When a crisis hits, often the inclination is to hope no one will find out and the problem will disappear. Wishful thinking rarely protects a reputation under threat, but being forthcoming and admitting what happened is the first step to resolving what can otherwise be a situation that spins out of control. In the reputation business, it’s easier to admit you made a mistake than to admit you covered up the facts.
Two: tell your side first. Allowing others to take ownership of your story – be it bloggers or mainstream media – means you lose control of your own narrative. Once that momentum is lost, it’s virtually impossible to appear forthright and it becomes a constant scramble to set the record straight. As difficult as it may be, get in front of the story by going first.
Three: remember who’s important. Organizations in crisis typically fear media scrutiny the most, so response strategies often focus on this audience to the exclusion of others. But when a reputation is on the brink of destruction, it’s the other stakeholders who are most likely to help pull it back from the cliff. Whether it’s employees, customers, donors or neighbors, make sure these groups understand the facts so they can become your advocates.
Four: take responsibility. Bad crisis communication can quickly devolve into a blame game, which never builds confidence among stakeholders. Unless your organization clearly was the victim, accept your role in the situation and admit what you did wrong. For those who have an interest in your survival, confession is the first step to redemption.
Five: stay engaged. Crisis events can cast long shadows on an organization. If your event occurred in an information vacuum, use the communications channels you established to make your stakeholders smarter about what you do and how you operate. The process of building reputation equity never stops and will pay large dividends if another crisis event ever threatens (and it will).
Six: put words into action. If you’ve done wrong, part of your reputation rehabilitation will be to promise to correct the activity that got you into trouble. It’s a critical mistake to renege on that commitment once the crisis spotlight moves on. By fixing the problem, you not only significantly reduce your future crisis risk, you gain the enormous credibility of being true to your word. In the business of reputation management, there’s probably no more important asset.
Photo Credit: Stuart Miles & FreeDigitalPhotos.net