Seven FGS Global partners have been recognized Lawdragon’s 2022 “Global 100 Leaders in Legal Strategy & Consulting” for their expertise in crisis communications. We’re proud our firm has been named to the list three years in a row.
Here at Capital in Context, no recognition goes without us gleaning some wisdom for our readers, so we asked each of them for one insight that guides their approach to crisis communications: Here’s what they said:
- Paul Holmes: “Determine your strategy based on where you want to be on the other side of the crisis, not on where you are now.”
- James Leviton: “Clients can spend hours debating what went wrong or how it went wrong, but I always get the CEO to focus on one thing – how and when he or she says sorry.”
- Jennifer Loven: “Don’t mistake mere bad news for a crisis, but once you’re in a true firestorm your worst enemies are:
- Panicking
- Not having done the hard work of building key external relationships and understanding of your values ahead of time
- Giving into the temptation to be defensive and aggressive instead of engaging and humble.”
- Jeff McAndrews: “Taking the time for even the most basic crisis preparation can help ensure your response to a crisis doesn’t become the crisis itself.”
- Sydney Neuhaus: “In any crisis situation, it’s important to remember the three C’s – Command, Control and Contain the situation. This means taking a highly disciplined and strategic approach to external and internal communications to ensure your response is consistent while remaining flexible enough to evolve as the situation unfolds.”
- George Sard: “Always ask the rude questions people don’t want to deal with.”
- Paul Verbinnen: “Stay calm and deliberate, work collaboratively with the client’s internal decision makers and help attend to the concerns of impacted stakeholders.”
