CIRCLING THE WAGONS TO FORM A FIRING SQUAD

Former Penn State Assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky under arrest for sexually abusing at least eight boys. Whenever media or government start messing in your business, you have a crisis on your hands. Crisis management consultants from coast to coast have developed well-thought out strategies, tactics, policies and procedures to help organizations weather such storms and we've all witnessed the public takedowns of companies, politicians and celebrities enough to know the drill: the coverup is always worse than the crime; always get out in front of your own story; tell the truth; admit your mistakes; apologize; be proactive and so on.

Watching the Penn State meltdown this week is a reminder that most organizations don't have a crisis management strategy-- until they have a crisis, and then it's too late to make it up on the fly. The walls come crashing down so fast and with such force the leaders of the organization wind up like the survivors of a Tsunami: stunned, dazed and confused, with no idea what just happened.

Speaking of tsunamis, the Japanese government and officials from the damaged Fukushima nuclear power plant were caught in a classic crisis management nightmare following the radiation leak. Japanese officials were publicly shamed for their lack of candor in this year's post-tsumani nuclear accidentThey hid information from the public, continually downplayed the severity of the leak and eventually, under unrelenting worldwide pressure, admitted their errors in judgment resulting in wholesale changes in the way Japan regulates and runs its nuclear power industry.

What did those officials do wrong? Many of the same things the leaders of Penn State have been doing: circling the wagons in self-defense while unkowningly forming a circular firing squad.

Take your pick of recent crises: from the BP oil spill to Tiger Wooods to Herman Cain's sexual harrassment allegations, the stories almost always play out the same way.

1. Underestimating the impact of the original incident. When a potential crisis is brought to the organization's leadership, their first reaction is often to downplay the severity of the incident and discount its potential consequences. A good crisis management plan always focuses on a worst case scenario. What happens if the media gets a hold of the story? What happens if the situation becomes a legal or criminal matter? Most organizations would rather not think of such negative things, but the purpose of crisis management is to anticipate and plan for such incidents and be ready to respond. Top organizations regularly rehearse their responses to various crisis scenarios. While most scenarios are quite unlikely to occur, no situation should ever be considered "impossible."
2. Hoping no one will find out what really happened. A negative or dangerous situation rarely stays secret for long. People inside the organization become effective whistleblowers, leaking information to the media or now even going direct to social media to get the story out. Keeping things quiet requires a conspiracy to control the situation, the first step down the slippery slope of crisis disaster. As Richard Nixon found out, the coverup often becomes bigger than the original offense.
3. Protecting friends and insiders.  As the details of a crisis situation unfold, often a long-time, trusted, well-liked figure becomes a central player in the drama. The organization's leaders have a difficult time reconciling the alleged act with the person they believe they know and almost involuntarily defend, explaining or rationalizing their behavior. Think about how long it took investors and regulators to finally be convinced Bernie Madoff had ripped them off? They ignored the evidence that was right in front of their eyes, rufusing to believe what actually happened. Of course, no one defended Madoff once he was discovered, but in the Penn State case it's clear many people within the organization continued to protect Jerry Sandusky despite mounting evidence of his sexual abuse of young boys, and now most of all them have, or will pay for that defense with their own jobs.
4. Not coming clean in public. Once the story breaks and the organization's leaders realize the media or government know the essential facts, some leaders falsely believe they can control the situation by either avoiding full disclosure or, worse, continuing the coverup publically. Some try to turn the tables and accuse the media of causing the problem, a tactic that usually only results in encouraging reporters and editors to become unrelenting hunters of the full story. When Penn State's PresidentTwo fired Penn State icons announced last week his "full support" of the employees charged with perjury, he practically dared the media to uncover the story--and they did.
5. Lawyering up. Unless you hire Gloria Allred, the first thing your attorney is going tell you is not to speak to the media about anything related to the incident. Their job is to keep their clients out of legal trouble, be it prison or a civil suit. But a great lawyer is often a lousy media consultant. Organizations with public constituencies, like a state university, can't remain silent for long. They must account for their actions publicly and the sooner the better. Penn State's Board of Trustees realized the university will be in for lots of legal trouble no matter what, but without a public acknowlegement the impropriety, the organization was paralyzed. In a crisis, there's no such thing as "no comment."

The Penn State crisis is far from over. The ramifications will be extensive and permanent. We all have the benefit of seeing the story with hindsight. Had the university's leaders practiced a bit of foresight, they might have avoided at least a portion of the crisis. A cautionary tale for every organization.

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