Crises: Prevention & Communication

Various current examples show that personal crises can quickly ruin a person's career and reputation. One often reads of the "deep fall". In our opinion, the crisis can be controlled by purposeful and strategically planned crisis prevention measures and the deep fall can be avoided. Our five golden rules of crisis communication can also be applied to personal crises. However, since scandals such as corruption, embezzlement or affairs are always the triggers of these crises, they often touch those affected and their families personally. If someone with a personal crisis is part of a company, the crisis can also spread to that company. In this case we speak of a "spill-over effect". In order to avoid this, companies and institutions must clearly distance themselves from private crises involving people close to the company by taking a public stand.

Stringent and consistent messages, quickly communicated over the channels, are the key to any crisis. But timing is also crucial. If it begins to emerge that trust has been damaged too much to be able to continue to hold a position, it is better to resign with dignity, take on responsibility and communicate core messages rather than go down. The cards are put on the table and mistakes are admitted. In the same way, however, innocence should be communicated when it is present. Also important: A resignation is not automatically an admission of guilt. Withdrawing at the right moment can also mean drawing the consequences from a situation - which shows a great sense of responsibility.

In the Swiss-German magazine "Bilanz" we present our thoughts on the latest personal crises and comment on strategic communication during a crisis. You can read the article here: Rücktritt mit Umwegen