It can be beneficial to look backward. In order to chart a new path forward, you must understand where you came from and how you got where you are. But don’t agonize over the past. Wishing you had a time machine is a fool’s errand.
The same is true when you confront a crisis. To fix it, you need to know what got you here. Focus on the facts, not what you wish had happened.
Be brutally honest. Only then you can develop an effective solution.
Sam was a problem. He founded the non-profit 20 years earlier and had led it ever since. But he felt increasingly entitled to do whatever he wished — to revise the mission, to spend funds, even to act inappropriately toward female staff.
At first, Sam’s changes were incremental. Then they became alarming and put the organization’s very existence at risk. The Board realized that it could no longer look the other way and that Sam must go.
Sadly, situations like these happen all too often.
Sometimes such crises bring out the best in people. They learn from their mistakes and move forward carefully but decisively. Board members tighten controls and processes, and they remove certain people from management. They load up on advisors, insurance, and audits. These are the organizations that thrive.
Once burned, they are twice shy. They never want to find themselves in this situation again.
By contrast, some others are so dazed by the experience that they plod on as before. Once people are comfortable, the familiar is desirable. Anything new is uncertain and unsettling. In the worst case, their attitude becomes, “That’s the way it’s always been done.” They believe lightning won’t strike twice, so they continue with few or no changes. They tempt fate daily.
You know which category you want to be in, right? Give us a call at (310) 396-8696 for a free 15-minute consultation.
Gillott Communications is a Los Angeles-based public relations firm that specializes in high-stakes Crisis & Reputation Management with more than 50 years of expertise in strategic communications, corporate public relations, and working with the media.
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