From a crisis communications perspective, the Penn State and
Herman Cain scandals have a lot in common. Both are about something that
happened long ago. And both have been badly handled, allowing the damage to get
worse and worse with each passing day.

Cain lectures the media, boasts about his integrity and
attempts to obscure the facts by playing with semantics. He tried the “I don’t
recall anything” defense before he admitted remembering something about an
agreement, but not a settlement. He blamed the media and he concocted
conspiracy theories. He has not been forthcoming but he has certainly been
arrogant.
Penn State also failed to gain control of the situation
quickly. According to the NY Times, before the adults finally took charge and dismissed
the university president and the iconic football coach, “the university devolved into a
leaderless circus in the days after its sexual abuse scandal unfolded. Early
Wednesday, Coach Joe Paterno was still calling his own shots, as if his moral
authority had somehow survived the tsunami of a scandal fueled by his own
inaction. When the Board of Trustees did the right thing Wednesday night — and
really, firing Paterno and Graham B. Spanier, the university president, was the
only thing it could do — the Paterno cult of personality tried to strike back.
Students protested, clinging to the mythical hero they did not want unmasked.”
Warren
Buffet famously said that it takes 20 years to build a reputation and five
minutes to ruin it. Herman Cain, Penn State and Joe Paterno have all suffered
serious damage to their reputations by denying, hiding or obscuring the facts.
By stalling, avoiding or misleading the media, and failing to show compassion,
remorse or understanding for the people hurt by their actions or inaction,
these individuals and institutions have paid an enormous price in lost
credibility, respect and trust.
What’s worse? Admitting your mistakes and asking forgiveness
for your failings, or letting suspicion and innuendo linger and grow until you
have nowhere left to run? Any crisis communicator can tell you it doesn’t take
a press conference to answer that one.
No comments:
Post a Comment