When Crisis Strikes

John F. Kennedy once famously said, “When written in Chinese, the word ‘crisis’ is composed of two characters. One represents danger and the other represents opportunity.”

They say natural disasters and other national crises are good for the government. Even though wildfires and hurricanes can cause so much devastation, they boost the economy and, some think, cause people to put more trust in the government. When public officials have strong, prompt responses to crises, the public notices and ratings go up. For example, the former Governor of Missouri, Jay Nixon increased his approval significantly after a tornado struck in 2011, and President George W. Bush’s approval shot up after the attacks on 9/11. But, when the public sees the response as lacking, public approval can drop. In 2006 after Hurricane Katrina, President Bush dropped a significant amount of points because many in the public blamed him for response not being fast enough.

Can companies and organizations use crises to their advantage? The Wall Street Journal says to never waste a crisis and be aggressive in the marketplace. If the company has a strong response, I believe that they can. Just like JFK said, you can, and should, turn crises into opportunities every chance that you get. Many companies have done just that, but there are a few who have done exactly the opposite.

BP is probably the best example of what not to do in a crisis. In fact, in every class I have taken that has something to do with crisis communication, we have used this example. BP executives took a long time to comment on the situation, tried to avoid the subject and placed blame elsewhere. Today most crisis communicators follow the opposite plan: they comment immediately, speak about the problem and take responsibility. If a company or organization follows that model, I think they can use a crisis to their advantage.

It is very important to always be ready for some type of crisis to happen. You must have a strong response, and in order to do that you must had all of your ducks in a row.

There are articles upon articles of people trying to teach you how to turn a crisis into an opportunity. ODE Management even gives you an easy way to remember what to do: FOCUS

F: Futuristic – have a vision (yes we are back to that!)

O: Optimistic – have a good attitude, if you expect the worst to happen, people will notice and panic too

C: Communication – be honest with the organization and the public; people can sniff out lies

U: Unity – have one message, not multiple stories coming from different people; be on the same page

S: Strategic – be ready to take advantage of every situation thrown at you

One example of a company using the FOCUS strategy is MeetingZone. According to ODE Management, after 9/11 executives were not only unwilling to travel based on safety concerns, but also because it was time consuming. MeetingZone’s creators, Tim Duffy and Steve Gandy, took advantage of this and created their company to have voice conferencing paired with web collaboration tools to make a reliable, easy to use conference system. This company is now a successful brand used internationally. All because two people were willing to think out of the box, have a good attitude, communicate with the public, push a unified message, and, most importantly, take advantage of the situation at hand.

Strong leadership is vital in a crisis situation. Yes, it is important to have a plan in place, but if you do not have adequate leadership that will help the organization stay on track it is almost pointless. Not only is the role of a leader in a crisis to show employees and the public that all is well, but they have a unique opportunity to access the company as a whole. Crisis gives people the opportunity prove their natural leadership. You can always tell who is a good fit for a company in a time of stress. It also give leaders a change to evaluate strengths and weaknesses of the organization.

One thing I think is extremely important in a crisis situation is collaboration. It is so important for employees, managers and executive to not only be unified in their message, but unified in the company itself. If employees do not believe that the organization will make it through a crisis, they will actually make it worse. The comedy group Four Day Weekend realized that working together towards a common goal was important for them during the financial crisis in 2008. They were preparing for a show, about to perform in front of a room full of CEOs, and everyone was worried about the state of the economy, but the show must go on. Throughout 2008 and 2009, the group struggled with booking corporate shows due to budget cuts, but because each person on the team was all in, they soon found themselves happier and spending more time working with their company the way they originally meant to. They would not have had this opportunity without the crisis, but if they had not all taken the time to work together on bettering the company, they would not have been near as successful.

If you had your own company, what would your plan be for capitalizing on crisis situations?

Four Day Weekend. (2017, October 2). How Crisis Can Create Opportunity. Retrieved from https://www.success.com/how-crisis-can-create-opportunity/

George, B. (n.d.). Leadership in a Crisis - How To Be a Leader. Retrieved from http://guides.wsj.com/management/developing-a-leadership-style/how-to-lead-in-a-crisis/

Kondick, K., & Skelley, G. (2017, August 31). The Politics Of Disasters. Retrieved from http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/political_commentary/commentary_by_kyle_kondik/the_politics_of_disasters

Ode Team21. (2013, June 21). 5 Steps To Turn Crisis Into Opportunity. Retrieved from https://odemanagement.com/news/5-steps-to-turn-crisis-into-opportunity.html

Ramdani, M. (2011, December 20). How to Take Advantage of a Crisis. Retrieved from https://business-digest.eu/en/2011/12/20/how-to-take-advantage-of-a-crisis/