With the help of an experienced crisis communication professional, every executive team in all types of organizations should: (1) Realize that personal experience at other times and places may not be sufficient. (2) Understand that each new crisis situation requires new analysis. (3) Brainstorming action possibilities is critically important. (4) And only then can completely relevant and empathetic messaging be developed and delivered.
Working over many years with university and nonprofit executives, I found that what they want to say during a current crisis is always based on their past experiences. My challenge always was get them to realize that a new crisis requires new thinking, and that past experiences may or may not be helpful.
When it came to Afghanistan, Biden’s crisis analysis team should have taken these basic factors into account before deciding what to say: The economy gradually improved during this 20 year period. The Afghan government often did help to stabilize the situation. Many successful small businesses were started. Non-profits made human rights advances. Many Afghans, especially girls, received an education and embarked on meaningful careers. Thus, many people thought the country was stabilized with the presence of only a small number of U.S. and other troupes.
With the guidance of crisis communication professionals, final exit plans and official messaging should have been designed that empathetically acknowledged these factors. Some of the easy to anticipate criticisms might also have been inoculated.
AND… shouldn’t this kind of current analysis and fresh thinking approach also be applied to all of Biden’s urgent crises?
Larry D. Lauer 