Reviewer: Alex Gladu
Tell it all, tell it early, tell it yourself. This is the most important rule that lawyer-turned-crisis-communicator Lanny Davis wants readers to know after reading his comprehensive crisis communication guide, Crisis Tales: Five Rules for Coping with Crises in Business, Politics, and Life. Backed up by accounts of his real-world, big-time crisis management experience, Davis’s rules can help any communicator, business executive, or average Joe learn the basics of effective crisis communication.
Davis begins his guide by describing time he spent in the White House, serving as “special counsel” to President Clinton. Despite the vague title, his job description was actually quite simple: handle the media during times of crisis. It was during his time at the White House that he learned to “tell it all, tell it early, tell it yourself.” From his ensuing experiences, he has developed five more rules for crisis communication: get all the facts out; put the facts into simple messages; get ahead of the story; fight for the truth using law, media, and politics; and never represent yourself in a crisis. Throughout the rest of the book, he describes in great detail each of the clients and cases that taught him these lessons.
One such case is that of Martha Stewart and her almost-insider trading crisis of 2002. In this case, Davis had to get the facts about Stewart’s trading activities out to the media, without compromising the pending legal proceedings and angering her lawyers. To do so, Davis conducted his own investigation of Stewart’s activities, using his law background to help him evaluate the case impartially. Then, after determining that Stewart had not actually traded illegally, he set up an exclusive interview with a writer from The New Yorker at Stewart’s home. He made sure that the writer was well known, so that the story would be picked up by other national news outlets.
Davis’s other cases included helping Royal Caribbean after a passenger mysteriously fell overboard and helping Macy’s escape claims of racial profiling and discriminatory practices.
While he offers expert advice, Davis’s process seems to take a long time, thanks to his investigative and analytical background as a lawyer. It would be helpful to see how he handles things immediately, as most crises require immediate response. Nonetheless, Crisis Tales would be helpful to any crisis communication student because it usefully pairs real-world case studies with expert advice to create an interesting, easy-to-read crisis communication handbook.
Alex Gladu
Tell it all, tell it early, tell it yourself. This is the most important rule that lawyer-turned-crisis-communicator Lanny Davis wants readers to know after reading his comprehensive crisis communication guide, Crisis Tales: Five Rules for Coping with Crises in Business, Politics, and Life. Backed up by accounts of his real-world, big-time crisis management experience, Davis’s rules can help any communicator, business executive, or average Joe learn the basics of effective crisis communication.
Davis begins his guide by describing time he spent in the White House, serving as “special counsel” to President Clinton. Despite the vague title, his job description was actually quite simple: handle the media during times of crisis. It was during his time at the White House that he learned to “tell it all, tell it early, tell it yourself.” From his ensuing experiences, he has developed five more rules for crisis communication: get all the facts out; put the facts into simple messages; get ahead of the story; fight for the truth using law, media, and politics; and never represent yourself in a crisis. Throughout the rest of the book, he describes in great detail each of the clients and cases that taught him these lessons.
One such case is that of Martha Stewart and her almost-insider trading crisis of 2002. In this case, Davis had to get the facts about Stewart’s trading activities out to the media, without compromising the pending legal proceedings and angering her lawyers. To do so, Davis conducted his own investigation of Stewart’s activities, using his law background to help him evaluate the case impartially. Then, after determining that Stewart had not actually traded illegally, he set up an exclusive interview with a writer from The New Yorker at Stewart’s home. He made sure that the writer was well known, so that the story would be picked up by other national news outlets.
Davis’s other cases included helping Royal Caribbean after a passenger mysteriously fell overboard and helping Macy’s escape claims of racial profiling and discriminatory practices.
While he offers expert advice, Davis’s process seems to take a long time, thanks to his investigative and analytical background as a lawyer. It would be helpful to see how he handles things immediately, as most crises require immediate response. Nonetheless, Crisis Tales would be helpful to any crisis communication student because it usefully pairs real-world case studies with expert advice to create an interesting, easy-to-read crisis communication handbook.
Alex Gladu