Executives are often thrilled when professional communicators promise to approach their task "like a campaign." That is, with a sense of urgency, savvy and discipline. While a
lot of people in corporate America express a disdain for the rough-and-tumble of politics, they warm to the idea that the kind of talent that could win the White House might be
deployed to manage their problem.
Like many people who make a living at crisis and issues management, I fell into it. I managed a number of political campaigns in my 20s and 30s, and if you saw some of the
candidates I worked with, you'd have a better understanding of how I became acquainted with crisis.
Take the candidate who decided he needed to make a grand entrance at an event and demanded that we get him a state-owned aircraft - only to get the California Department of
Fish and Game's aromatic fish-stocking plane. Or the candidate who did himself permanent bodily harm with a Q-Tip. There are a thousand stories, even in my unremarkable political
career. Most of them can't be told because the statute of limitations hasn't expired.
Well, if you insist. I had a candidate who was an absolute nightmare to have around. Once, after disagreeing with our young press secretary, he literally ripped the press
release she was drafting out of her typewriter (ah, 1980), threw it out, and reduced her to tears. I was thrust into my first big crisis, and responded with the decisiveness that
would serve me well in later years. I threw our candidate out of the office and locked the door. "Go raise money," I yelled at him, "or call prospective supporters. Just get the
hell out of here!"
Shockingly, the voters found this candidate to be not ready for prime time and declined to reward him with high office. Our press secretary became an acclaimed journalist who
now writes editorials for The New York Times. And I got into -- or rather, stayed in -- crisis management.
No question about it, politics has deepened the skill set and marketability of a cadre of corporate crisis managers. Equally true, and sad in a way, is that the most prominent
example of current political discourse - the Democratic primary battle - is an object lesson of what can go wrong when some of the tried-and-true tenets of crisis communications
are ignored:
Rule One: Fix the problem. Crisis discipline demands that the first thing the management team must do is to end the problem causing the crisis. If the building is burning,
focus on putting the fire out. If people are eating your contaminated product, get it out of their hands.
If Democrats believe "the problem" is the Bush administration, and that replacing the party in power with another is the solution, they have failed in getting this message out.
The Democratic Party is probably more ill-defined than it has ever been. Just 33% of the electorate defines itself as Democratic Party members, according to a recent Democratic
Leadership Council poll. Worse, the party doesn't seem to be as ideologically aligned as the GOP: that same poll showed that 35% of Democrats define themselves as "liberal" while
63% of Republicans label themselves "conservative."
Any organization facing a crisis must first have a clearly articulated set of values that define it and govern its actions.
Rule Two: Argue it out, but decide quickly. A well-rounded crisis team encourages viewpoints from all parts of the organization. But without clear leadership to cut off debate
and make decisions, many organizations in crisis become almost addicted to the process of arguing. FDR admonished leaders to make decisions in crisis - "imperfect action is better
than perfect inaction," he said. Crisis response thrives on a robust airing of views, but in a compressed time period where the highest priority is on decision-making.
Lamentably, the Democratic Party isn't much of a party at all. In a traditional party structure, leaders are empowered to end debate, focus on winning, and, in times gone by,
handpicking candidates whose party service, popularity with certain voting blocs, or overall electability put them front-and-center. The party has evolved much more to a Darwinian
process of survival of the financially fittest, which, as any Californian can tell you, often produces remarkably unpopular but winning candidates.
There is no CEO of the party who can call an end to the love affair with debate and attack and turn collective attention to beating the opposition. The GOP has such a leader.
So does most every company in crisis. They should count their lucky stars. However unpopular or autocratic the CEO's decisions, they are exactly what is needed in crisis. The
Democrats seem intent on an endless tag-team fight to the death. No wonder voters are staying home in droves.
Rule Three: Obey the demands of the "Golden Hour." Emergency Medical Technicians and trauma doctors know that after a heart attack, gunshot, stroke, or other traumatic event,
seconds count. Crisis communicators know that focusing on message development and deployment in the first hour is perhaps the most important thing they will do in the crisis'
entire life cycle. Likewise, staying with the "patient" and aggressively planning for developments on the hour, the news cycle or the day, will vastly increase the odds of
survival and ultimate success.
The "Golden Hour" of current political discourse requires powerful messages in two major areas: security and the economy. Republicans have a 28% lead on terrorism-related
issues, 31% on homeland security, and 35% on national security, according to the DLC poll. Democrats are squandering this "Golden Hour" by associating themselves with some frankly
ridiculous ideas: that President Bush is "evil" and the country is in need of "regime change."
Yet just 48% of voters now believe the President deserves re-election and most are troubled by the economy. An aggressive campaign - obeying some of the best crisis
communications discipline - could make the President's operatives nostalgic for the high-water mark of 48%. But as it stands now, Democrats' infatuation with dithering and self-
destruction may well guarantee, in the words of The Economist, a "delightful romp" for George W. Bush.
Contact: Larry Kamer is president of Kamer Consulting Group LLC, and can be reached at 510.644.3500, [email protected]