Not all crises are self-inflicted

Not all crises are self-inflicted

In July, the WHO made noise about aspartame as a carcinogen. This isn’t the first time asparatme has been the subject of controversy, nor will it be the last. The truth is that if we look hard enough we can find any number of carcinogens in our food supply. The...
Building resilience

Building resilience

In my book, Stuff Happens, I use the resilience cycle to demonstrate that organizations need to be in a continuous cycle of preparation, management and recovery to become resilient. Crises have lifecycles. Being able to communicate effectively with stakeholders...
Proud to be Canadian

Proud to be Canadian

Often those who live outside North America think that Canadians and Americans are the same. The COVID19 pandemic is a stark example of how different we really are. My friend, Pierre Pettigrew summed it up for me one day like this: Canada = Peace, order, and good...
Team management in a crisis

Team management in a crisis

Most of us who deal with crisis management are adrenalin junkies.  Nothing gets us more energized than pitching in to deal with the immediacy of the crisis. Team cohesiveness and management is critically important in a crisis.  The team will develop a bunker mentality...
A 6-minute crisis preparation exercise

A 6-minute crisis preparation exercise

Preparing for a crisis can feel like a daunting task.  But, what if I were to tell you that you can get a good head start in the time it takes to have a coffee break?  Would you give it a try? Since you decided to read more, I will take your answer as a “yes”.  Grab...
After the crisis

After the crisis

The number of reporters has dwindled.  The number of negative Tweets has decreased dramatically.  You have returned from the war room to your regular desk.  So, is the crisis over?  No!  The underlying issues are far from gone.  Now you face the legal battles and the...
Why we lie

Why we lie

I don’t subscribe to National Geographic although after reading a friend’s copy of the June 2017 issue, I may. The feature article is an in-depth treatise about lying and why we do it.  So, what were my key takeaways as a communicator? Lying is a very human thing to...
10 Tips for surviving a reputation hit

10 Tips for surviving a reputation hit

Reputation management is a particular passion for me.  I help my clients become reputation resilient by thinking about how they will prevent incidents, mitigate damage and rebuild their reputation.  Here are 10 tips for reputation management from Jamie Watt from...
Can you really prepare for a crisis?

Can you really prepare for a crisis?

Sometimes communications is like first aid. We arrive on scene after something terrible has or is expected to happen and we are expected to apply “communications band aids” to the problem that will make it go away. Of course, professional communicators have the...
Crisis Preparation – A business asset

Crisis Preparation – A business asset

Recently, I met with a colleague who wanted to prepare his organization for issues management/crisis communications. It is something every organization should do but it isn’t really much fun to think about disasters and it doesn’t sell widgets, so it often gets put on...