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NFL Crisis Sets Off Cynics

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NomoreblogDon’t set me off. I’m a cynic. The NFL crisis and its flawed communications strategy continues to set off the cynic in me. A huge part of my crisis communications plan strategy and the crisis management advice provided to my clients is based upon understanding how to effectively communicate to the cynics.

Sunday night the NFL crisis and the failures of Roger Goodell were not on my mind. I was watching Sunday Night Football on NBC with my wife and enjoying a Sazarac – yes, Saints, Sunday and Sazaracs. (I wish we had won the game.) My goal was to be entertained.

Without the crisis on my mind, a public service announcement ran for an organization called NoMore.org.  The campaign originated in 2013, but the NFL played the public service announcement during the game in an effort to “fight domestic violence.”

What did the cynic in me think? Cover-up. White washing. Trying to cover you’re a**. You screwed up and now you’re trying to make us think you’re doing something.

The crisis was not on my mind. Great job Goodell because you just put it back on my mind. Also, my mind isn’t thinking about victims. My mind is thinking about a failure of leadership.

I’ve thought the same thing about all of the commercials BP ran following the Gulf of Mexico oil spill and crisis. The cynic in the oil spill crisis wonders just how much BP spent telling the world they are not the negligent company that they’ve been proven to be in a court of law. While BP says they’ve made things right, my sources say the marshes of Louisiana still have a lot of BP oil that has never been cleaned up.

The bottom line is:

1) Fix your problems to prevent a crisis from happening

2) Address your crisis quickly so there is never a cover-up

3) Say you are sorry to the people you have harmed

4) Don’t brag about how well you allegedly said you are sorry… especially when you have failed to fully address the crisis and the real problem.

For the NFL the problem is not domestic violence. The NFL problem is one man at the top who doesn’t know how to properly investigate a domestic violence case and properly punish a guilty player.

When you brag about the wrong thing, you set me off. Don’t set me off.

By Gerard Braud

Corporate Whitewashing

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NFLbreastcancerawarenessBy Gerard Braud

The NFL now has two strikes against it for throwing money at advocacy groups and causes as a way to make it appear they care about an issue. Is this corporate whitewashing?

It wasn’t until concussion issues became part of a high-profile lawsuit that the NFL began donating money to groups who could research concussions. They knew about concussions for a long time, but really did nothing about eliminating the risk.

It wasn’t until Ray Rice’s video of him punching his fiancé became public that the NFL began donating money to groups who advocate against domestic violence. They didn’t do it when other players were accused of domestic violence and they didn’t do it six months ago when the Rice case first emerged.

The only thing the NFL has freely donated to without it tied to a scandal is their October breast cancer awareness campaign. Although my cynical mind says this was done primarily as a way to embrace the highly lucrative female audience around the same time the NFL launched its apparel lines for females.

When I was a journalist covering GreenPeace campaigns, they used the term Greenwashing. Greenwashing was characterized as a company with a history of pollution contributing to an environmental cause, even though the pollution continued unabated. The cynical mind of GreenPeace didn’t hesitate to call out the diversion.

Is the NFL, in an attempt to divert attention from their crisis, guilty of whitewashing?

The rules of crisis management and crisis communications are the same as the rules of trust: Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.

It appears the NFL has two strikes clearly against them.

NFL Crisis Lesson: 3 Steps to Good Ethics and Leadership in Crisis Management and Crisis Communications

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NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell

By Gerard Braud

Crisis management and crisis communications depend upon honesty and ethical leadership. The easiest way to define good, ethical behavior is to consider that your behavior and discussions in private should be the same as if the entire world were watching and listening.

I suspect the NFL crisis is confounded by the same type of discussions that took place at Penn State during their child abuse scandal. Generally, a bunch of old white guys – yes I said it – gather in a room and all say, “If people find out about this we’re dead. If people find out about this, we’re ruined. If people find out about this, we’ll lose boat loads of money.”

The group usually goes on to make decisions designed to hide the facts from the world as a way to protect their reputation and revenue.

Wrong, wrong, wrong.

The proper way for any institution or company to protect their reputation and revenue and end a crisis is to do the right thing the first time by:

1) Letting the world know the full extent of what you have uncovered in your investigation

2) Punishing those who are at the root of the crisis

3) Announcing steps to keep it from happening again.

Roger Goodell and the NFL:

1) Only let the world know part of what happened and likely hid facts they knew

2) Handed down a punishment based on the world not knowing the full truth about Ray Rice

3) Are now announcing steps to give money to groups who advocate against domestic violence

Domestic violence is not the crisis at hand in the NFL. The crisis is denial, arrogance, and bad ethics by the people responsible for leading the NFL.

Yes, domestic violence is an issue for some players, but so is womanizing, drinking, drugs, DUI, getting in car wrecks, theft, dog fighting, and even murder. The players in the NFL are a representation of the population at large and the NFL can only do so much to raise awareness about all of these issues.

Ray Rice isn’t the first player guilty of domestic violence and will not be the last. The NFL didn’t throw money at domestic violence prevention in the past. So why now? The NFL is trying to distract us from the truth and the failure of the people who failed to be good, ethical leaders.

The people running the NFL are still not getting it right. In fact, they are making things worse.

If my suspicions are true, more truth will come out about what the NFL did and didn’t know. As the truth comes out, credibility will be lost and the institution’s reputation will be further damaged, with a slow erosion of revenue each day the crisis lingers. Some revenue loss will come from the sponsors who pull out. Some revenue loss will come from fans who don’t buy tickets or merchandise.

The NFL must do what all institutions should do from the beginning:

1) Tell the truth

2) Punish not just the players, but the guilty executives as well

3) Announce steps to ensure bad decision-making doesn’t happen again.

Suspending Roger Goodell is still a viable option. It needs to be done swiftly in the name of crisis management and ethics.

3 Ways Your Brand Can Distance Itself from a Team, Athlete or Sport in Crisis

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Click image to watch

Click image to watch

By Gerard Braud

Brands live and die by sales. Sales associated with a star athlete or team are considered golden by many brands. But what happens in a crisis? What happens when the team loses? What happens when the player is disgraced?

The NFL crisis and their failed crisis management and crisis communications should give every brand a reason to pause and evaluate your association with a team, coach or athlete.

For athletic brands, association with a team, sport or athlete is a must. For many consumer brands or service industry brands however, I have strongly advised my clients to keep their distance. I see no reason for a bank or hospital, for example, to take that leap.

Yes, a winning team wins you a degree of favor. But a losing team is a bad association. There is nothing worse than seeing your logo behind an angry coach after a bad loss. Learn from Radisson Hotels. They quickly realized their logo didn’t need to be behind the owner, coach and players of the Minnesota Vikings as the issues surrounding Adrian Peterson went from being a sideline issue to being in the spotlight.

Be a control freak. You can control paid advertising. You cannot control guilt by association in a crisis. Consult an advertising expert and research not only the benefits you may gain in good times, but also the damage you may sustain to your brand’s reputation and revenue during a crisis.

1) If you do allow your brand to sponsor a team, have a clause that allows you to remove your logo from the post-game interview backdrop when the team loses.

2) Make sure your logo never shows when there is a scandal.

3) Send a marketing or communications employee to travel with the team to set up a backdrop with your logo for good news and a backdrop without your logo when the news is bad.

Don’t let someone else’s crisis and their failed crisis management affect your brand, your reputation and your revenue.

Smoke, Mirrors and Diversion Do Not Work as a Crisis Communications or Crisis Management Strategy

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Braudcast Sept 18 NFL

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By Gerard Braud

The NFL has appointed a panel of women to advise them on domestic abuse. Is this a viable crisis management strategy? Is it a viable crisis communication or crisis management strategy?

Actually, it has made the crisis worse because it kicks the decision can down the road. It has also drawn criticism because three of the four panelists are white and one is black, while in the NFL, the majority of players are black.

My observation is that this is a weak attempt by Roger Goodell to appear he has taken action, when in fact, his inaction from the onset of the Ray Rice crisis has cost a bevy of other aspects of the crisis.  He has caused more players being placed under scrutiny, more teams being forced to make very public decisions, and sponsors pulling out of the NFL.

The fans are smart enough to know this is not a solution to the ongoing crisis. If only the NFL leadership were as smart as their fans.

NFL Failed Crisis Management Amid Sponsor Pressure

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Braudcast Sept 18 NFLBy Gerard Braud

The NFL’s failed crisis management is hitting them in the wallet. It is hitting teams hard, as players under suspicion of wrong-doing are singled out.

It shows weakness of leadership to not manage a crisis properly from the beginning.

It shows failure of leadership not to communicate a response properly from the onset of the crisis.

It is pitiful that sponsors have to force the NFL to make decisions about this crisis based on hard cash.

A good leader and a strong company would evaluate the potential damage to revenue and reputation at the onset of the crisis, leading them to make the right executive decisions. Then they should implement crisis communication techniques to let the world know that the crisis is being managed.

If you are in public relations, employee communications, or corporate communications, this is a case study you should observe so that these same poor crisis decisions never happen where you work.

Failed Crisis Management Leadership Hits Multiple NFL Players and Teams

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Braudcast Sept 18 NFLBy Gerard Braud

The NFL crisis gets bigger in the absence of crisis management, crisis communications and good executive leadership.

Adrian Peterson and a string of other players and teams are being swept up in the crisis because as the appointed leader of the NFL, Roger Goodell failed to make the right decisions at the beginning of the Ray Rice crisis.

With each passing day, Goodell’s failure to communicate makes the crisis worse.

Expert crisis management and crisis communications involves having a plan of action that fully addresses the potential damage to an institution’s reputation and revenue. The slower an institution is to respond, the more the crisis spreads and the more damage to reputation and revenue.

What about where you work? Do your leaders have a crisis management and crisis communications plan? Do the people with the high titles possess true leadership qualities, especially in a crisis?

Most institutions fail to have a plan that would truly serve their needs in a crisis. Many have a few sheets of paper in a binder that states some standard operating procedures. These are comfort plans – they make people feel good because the word crisis plan is on a piece of paper. But experience shows that most institutions fail to write the type of deep crisis communications plan needed to handle every type of crisis they may face.

Most institutions fail to consider both emergency type crises as well as the smoldering ethical issues within the organization.

Many executives are in denial early in a crisis and throughout the crisis, as they hope and pray it will go away. Hope is not a crisis communications strategy. I believe in the power of prayer, but I also believe that your actions during a crisis can be guided by a crisis communications plan so you can eliminate the need for prayer.

The reality is, the longer it lingers, the worse it gets.

Eventually reputation and revenue are damaged significantly enough that someone at the top gets fired.

Because Goodell has been weak, the crisis has spread to other teams and players, causing sponsors to pull out or threaten to pull out.

My prediction is the NFL owners will soon be calling for Goodell to resign.

In yesterday’s blog and in radio interviews with America Tonight and NBC Sports Radio, my suggestion to Goodell is that he suspend himself for one year. You can read more from my previous entry.

Adrian PetersonWill this kind of failure to lead in a crisis happen someday where you work? It doesn’t have to if you prepare for it with a crisis communications plan and conduct regular drills that role-play various types of crises, especially those that deal with hard moral and ethical decisions.

Good crisis communications and crisis management should never be based on spontaneous decisions and strategies in the midst of your crisis. Good crisis communications and crisis management is derived from writing strong plans on a clear sunny day.

NFL Crisis Management and Crisis Communications Double Standard

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Why Suspend Goodell? Watch

Why Suspend Goodell? Watch

By Gerard Braud

 

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell missed a crisis management and crisis communications opportunity to end the Ray Rice crisis. Sunday should have been the day Roger Goodell announced to the world that he would be suspending himself for one year. It would have displayed leadership in a crisis. It would have been communications that managed and ended the crisis.

What? Why? Is this the best expert advice that crisis managers and crisis communicators counselors could make?

Consider this — New Orleans Saints coach Sean Payton was suspended for one year because even though he didn’t know that his defensive coach was running a bounty program for defensive players. Payton received a one-year suspension because Goodell said that as the head coach, it happened on Payton’s watch. Payton, as the top leader, was held responsible by Goodell

So, many call for Goodell to be fired and Goodell goes into classic executive denial, diversion and potential cover-up about what he knew. The best way for him to end the current crisis would be to suspend himself on the grounds that the Rice incident happened on his watch. If someone within the NFL had video of the punch in the elevator and Goodell didn’t see it, then by default, Goodell is as guilty as Payton.

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell

If we learn Goodell did know about the video, or saw the video, and/or was told by Ray Rice about the punch, yet faile
d to sere Rice his harsh penalty until the world saw the punch video, then we have a classic case of leadership failure in a crisis. We have a case of an executive acting one way toward others, yet having different rules for himself. We have a case of an executive who was wishing it would all go away, but who was forced to respond differently when the world learned more.

Crisis management requires good ethics and good ethical decisions. Expert crisis management only happens with the executive’s words and actions are one in the same. Are the executive’s actions congruent with his or her words? When they are, the executive is a leader. When they are not congruent, the executive fails to be a leader.

The more I watch this crisis the more I expect it to get worse. When a crisis is allowed to smolder this long it results only in more damage to reputation and revenue. Experts will tell you that the faster you end the crisis, the faster revenue and reputation are restored.

Leadership in a crisis happens when hard decisions are made quickly. A self-suspension is a great compromise shy of Goodell being fired. If Goodell fails to take a bold step, then his job is one the line, as it should be, for failing at crisis management and crisis communications

3 Questions to Ask about the Intersection of Crisis Management, Crisis Communication, and Crisis Communications Plans: The NFL

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By Gerard Braud

rayrice apAnother crisis management and crisis communication lesson plays out in the NFL as the Associated Press reports the NFL had a copy of the videotape showing Ray Rice punching his fiance in the face.

This exposes a crisis management and crisis communication weakness found in many organizations, which either involves leaders intentionally covering up a crisis or the crisis management team not fully sharing information. This prevents everyone from connecting the dots in a way that results in the best resolution of the crisis and full, honest communications about that resolution.

Here are three questions you can ask today to have a better crisis management and crisis communications plan.

1) When a crisis unfolds, do you have a central hub within the crisis management team in which all information is collected and disseminated to the key decision makers? If there is or was such a system within the NFL, a videotape of the punch would have been shared with the crisis management team. If there is and was a system, then we have a case of unethical behavior, personified by a cover-up and possible lies in media interviews by Roger Goodell.

2) Does your crisis communications plan have a predetermined list of questions that you will ask in every crisis so that everyone is always on the same page? This is one of the most powerful tools you can have and a vital part of all of the crisis communications plans I write.

3) Is there conflict in your organization because ethical decisions about a crisis often take a backseat to legal arguments by lawyers or financial arguments from the CFO? Those arguments often result in everyone taking a vow of silence so the organization doesn’t get sued, resulting in a loss of reputation and revenue. This is the job of communication experts in the room: Connect the dots for everyone else. Focus on the long-term reputational and financial health of the organization by doing the right thing and not the most convenient thing in the short-term.

Smoldering crises like the NFL Ray Rice case often cause various leaders to connect the dots only in a way that is immediately best for their interest, rather than in a way that is best for the long-term health of the organization, its leaders, and in many cases, the victims of the crisis.

Rayrice blog gerard braudFor example, in the case of Penn State, we saw the university fail to expose the crime of sexual abuse out of fear of reputational damage and a loss of revenue. This short-term failure resulted in more boys being victims of sexual abuse, greater reputational harm, a larger financial loss, and top leaders being fired.

In the case of the NFL, many experts believe the only reason the NFL has taken a tough stand on concussions is because of a lawsuit that would damage their reputation and lead to a huge financial loss if the lawsuit went to trial. It was not done years ago when it could have been.

When powerful people hide the facts from the world, as a way to avoid reputational and revenue loss in a crisis, you are witnessing unethical behavior in a crisis. In most cases the secret becomes public, executives get fired, the institution’s reputation is damaged, and revenue is lost. Stay tuned to see what happens with the NFL.

Crisis Communications Statements That Say Nothing

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GW TodayBy Gerard Braud

Leaders are slow to communicate in a crisis, so I get excited when I see an executive initiate some type of crisis communications. However, the example I’m going to show you here, in my expert opinion, does little to effectively communicate. Also, with two potential crises, this executive opts to focus on the lesser of the two and ignores the bigger crisis.

I was contacted by reporter Colleen Murphy with the George Washington Hatchet, the student newspaper at George Washington University. Her initial call was to get my reaction because a past GW president had made a comment on NPR regarding college women being drunk and how that might contribute to them being a victim of sexual assault.

Critics of the past president resented the suggestion that a woman would be anything more than a victim in a sexual assault. (In fairness, if you listen to the full interview for full context you would likely agree with what was actually said and not what people perceive was said.) Sensitive to the negative outcry, the current president decided to issue a statement. However, at the time the president is issuing his statement, a co-ed had just filed a sexual assault complaint after she reported being assaulted in a fraternity house.

GW presidentGW President Steve Knapp writes, “My responsibility as president is to make my own and the university’s position — and the steps the university is actually taking — as clear as I can.” To that, I say bravo.

But read on and see how Knapp’s statement is anything but clear. He also fails to outline any real steps. And, in light of the sexual assault report just filed, notice how Knapp fails to mention the assault in his statement:

“My strongly held position is that sexual assault under any guise and regardless of the circumstances is utterly repugnant and unacceptable. In recent years, we have hired a Vice Provost for Diversity and Inclusion and a Title IX Coordinator, and we are currently seeking a Coordinator of Sexual Assault Prevention and Student Advocacy. Together with others across the university, including many dedicated faculty members, students, and staff, this team is advancing our efforts to create a university culture in which every member of our community understands that sexual assault must not and will not be tolerated. Our work must focus unambiguously on ensuring that the university is fully supportive of the survivors of such acts and treats appropriately those who are found to have committed them,” Knapp’s statement concludes.

As I told the reporter, this was an excellent time to advance the discussion about assaults. Hiring a new Provost will not stop assaults. Lost from Knapp’s statement is anything that educates female students as to how to prevent an assault. This was a perfect time to give the best three tips for avoiding being a victim. Absent is an attempt to educate male students about what is unacceptable behavior. Lost is the opportunity to set new, strong standards for attacking this problem at GW.

I laugh at the sentence, “Our work must focus unambiguously on ensuring that the university is fully supportive of the survivors of such acts…” because the entire statement is ambiguous.

Some executives and public relations people have a way of saying many words, but failing to effectively communicate. Behold: I give you GW University.