Crises are like death and taxes. No one wants to plan for them. Yet, lack of planning for any of them can have disastrous consequences.
A recent local example may serve to illustrate the point. Jamie Bennett’s candidacy for mayor faced a serious crisis last week when it was revealed that Bennett’s campaign manager had been offering free baseball tickets to the city’s suite at Tropicana Field to enhance his mayoral campaign.
After his dismissal, Bennett’s campaign manager unleashed a media barrage against his former boss. His onslaught against the campaign continues.
Bennett, on the other hand, issued a vague statement that he was unaware of his staffer’s actions.
In the midst of a campaign crisis, the Bennett camp was unprepared to deal with the issue because they hadn’t planned ahead. They had no spokesperson who could’ve attempted to step out in front of the story and kept the damage to a minimum. Instead, the public heard the campaign manager’s side of the story. Now, the story has taken on a life of its own and may be the fatal blow to the mayoral campaign.
The lack of a thorough crisis management plan coupled with the wisdom to spot a crisis brewing can be the death of a political candidate as well as a business. The time to put a crisis management plan in place is PRIOR to any crisis. Once a crisis hits there is no time to plan. It’s time to execute.
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