Live from #SHRM10: Jeff Lanza on preparing your firm for a crisis
I’m reporting live from the SHRM’s annual conference out in San Diego this week, where I had the opportunity to talk with retired FBI agent Jeff Lanza, president of Communication Dynamics. Jeff, an expert in crisis management, discussed what companies can do to prepare for potential crises and manage them when they occur. Among his tips:
- Brainstorm 10 scenarios that might imperil your company and think about ways you might respond in each of those situations to protect the interests of your customers, employees and shareholders. Thinking through those scenarios “will help you prepare for the crisis, but also it may expose vulnerabilities that you have in your organization, and you may be able to fix those vulnerabilities before the crisis even occurs,” he says.
- Don’t default to a “bunker mentality” and lock down your corporate communications in a crisis. “If they’re not telling the story, then someone else is going to start telling the story for them. When a company’s in crisis mode, they need to be the first and most credible source of information.”
- Show empathy to everyone affected by the crisis. “People want to know that you care about them, and once you show that you care, it humanizes you as an organization.”
Watch the full interview with Jeff, as well as other great conversations with HR thoughtleaders from our video series with Monster.com.
Posted by Tweets that mention Live from #SHRM10: Jeff Lanza on preparing your firm for a crisis | SmartBlog on Workforce -- Topsy.com on July 2nd, 2010 at 6:59 am
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by DebExo, jeff lanza. jeff lanza said: time to pile on BP http://smartblogs.com/workforce/2010/07/01/live-from-shrm10-jeff-lanza-on-preparing-your-firm-for-a-crisis/ [...]
Posted by Beth Terry on July 2nd, 2010 at 5:56 pm
Perhaps you need a little education on what it means to be a cowboy http://www.cowboyethics.org/
talk less and say more; 9) remember that some things aren't for sale; 10) know where to draw the line.
Real Cowboys, according to David Stoecklein, have 10 things they live by: 1) live each day with courage; 2) take pride in your work, 3) always finish what you start; 4) do what has to be done; 5) be tough but fair; 6) when you make a promise, keep it; 7) ride for the Brand;
Sounds to me like BP needed to act MORE like a Cowboy. And – for that matter, so does our President, and so do our Congressional Leaders. If America were sticking to the Cowboy code today, we wouldn't be in such a pickle.
Posted by Lessons for a lifetime-My #SHRM10 Recap | UpstartHR on July 2nd, 2010 at 9:46 pm
[...] Smartblog on Workforce [...]
Posted by Are You Ready? « Lee Cockerell – Lessons in Leadership on July 3rd, 2010 at 1:23 pm
[...] Live from #SHRM10: Jeff Lanza on preparing your firm for a crisis [...]
Posted by Garth Lapora on October 14th, 2011 at 2:09 pm
Pretty nice post. I just stumbled upon your blog and wished to mention that I have really loved browsing your weblog posts. After all I’ll be subscribing for your rss feed and I hope you write again very soon!