In today's wired world,a small piece of information,whether it is rumor or the truth,can go viral at an instant making scandals being tried in the court of public opinion.
In Crisis Tales,Lanny takes us through his guidelines of crisis management: Tell it all,Tell it Early,Tell it yourself.He tells us his real stories behind famous clients' very public scandals and how his creation of five rules manages to diffuse the scandals.
When the Watergate scandal broke out,the management team of President Richard Nixon made the fundamental mistake in crisis management-deny,deny and deny.These denials gave the journalists plenty of time to dig more into the scandal and the more they dug,more truths surfaced.Ultimately,President Richard Nixon had no choice but to resign.
In each chapter of the book,Lanny details to us his handling of the crisis of his clients under different circumstances,like in the case of Martha Stewart, who was accused of insider trading.In Macy's shoplifting case,it was accused of being bias against minority shoppers,the blacks.And in the case of the Royal Caribbean cruise ship,a newly married man was found dead while on honeymoon.Royal Caribbean was accused of trying to cover-up the tragic news.
In his five rules of crisis management,Lanny advises the need to get the facts out and put it into simple messages and to get ahead of the story.He also advocates the need to fight for the truth by using law.media,and politics.And lastly,never represent yourself in a crisis which Lanny got himself embroiled during the Ivory Coast election in 2000.He was accused of being a lobbyist for Laurent Gbagbo who was defeated in the presidency election which Gbago claimed was rigged.And by defending himself against the accusation,to his chagrin,he had broken the same rules which he advocated in crisis management.And it was a lesson well learnt for Lanny.
Crisis Tales provide a wealth of sensible advice for handling crises,whether it is businesses,institutions,politicians or personal life.
I have two politicians in mind to recommend to read this book.One is a Chief Minister who is accused of corruption in millions by purchasing a bungalow below market price.And the other is a Prime Minister, who is accused of corruption in billions by siphoning the nation's investment fund into his personal account.
Or should I advise them to give Lanny a call?
Rating: 8/10
