There's no market for martyrs. Really.

Some clients are so entrenched in their martyrdom that trying to help them is beyond frustrating. Every suggestion is greeted with a "yabbut." [Yes, but] I watch their lips and I swear it's a Charlie Brown teacher experience. All I hear from them is yabbut, yabbut, yabbut.

If something you've tried in the past did not work, spend some time analyzing why it didn't work. Were you expecting too much from too little? Did you expect your words to be taken as gospel just because you said so? Did you provide data to support your position? Did you do it in a timely manner? Do you believe that just because you're doing "good" that you don't have to be accountable?

When "woe is me" is your mindset, you'll only get more "woe."

Telecommuting may save your business

More employees are pushing for telecommuting to save gasoline costs that, in effect, are proving to be a salary drain. And more businesses are offering the benefit of telecommuting to keep valued employees from leaving for a company closer to home.

Telecommuting is more than an employee benefit: Business continuity plans should recognize telecommuting as a major crisis management tool.

• The most obvious crisis is a natural disaster, either short-term such as an ice storm or long-term such as a flood, that can wipe out functions at the main office or block access to the office.
• Another crisis is less likely, but not impossible, crime such as a disgruntled employee who “goes postal,” an irate spouse seeking revenge or a furious client.
• And we can’t overlook the issues of pandemic illness and terrorism.

Here are the numbers:

• One in five U.S. companies suffers a disaster that causes them to close their doors for a period of time.
• About 40 percent of small businesses that experience a disaster never reopen.
• About 43 percent of companies hit by severe crises never open their doors again.
• A recent survey found that 73 percent of federal workers said they would not come into their offices in the event of a pandemic. 

Is your business prepared? Why not? Contact me to discuss your business continuity planning.

What’s in your go-kit?

First of all, I hope you know what a go-kit is. Whether it’s a cardboard box or a crush-resistant, impact-resistant metal case, a go-kit is the container you can grab and run to the site of whatever disaster/crisis hits your company. When it hits the fan is too late to start pulling these items together.

Obviously a laptop computer is one item. Maybe even a satellite phone. Communication is what this is all about, so you need these mechanical tools. How a about a digital camera?

Depending on the size of the company and how many hats you wear, you also may need a company check book to compensate individuals either injured or who suffered property damage. And release forms for individuals who are ready to settle right then and there.

Other items that don’t fit into your go-kit but are equally important:
• "Stealth" Website ready to punch in the pertinent information for news media, g eneral public and even your employees.
• Responsive communication tree both ‘up’ and ‘down’ the communication ladder. Watch for more on this issue in another blog.
• Trained spokesperson on the ground while main spokesperson is en route.
• Expert investigators, as necessary.
• Company or hired-gun defense lawyers to talk to the inevitable ant trail of plaintiff attorneys.

Oh, and for the go-kit, don’t forget a change of underwear!

My first personal loss to a tornado

I spent much of my childhood in the tornado alley of Texas, and I worked for FEMA helping with major tornado recovery. But today is my first personal loss.

I lost a relative overnight to the tornado outside Seneca, Missouri. She lived, as do many people in rural areas, in a mobile home. Yes, it had all the required tie-downs, but tie downs are no match for a tornado of any size.

She couldn't leave her home for safety in a "bar ditch" as we call those drop-offs alongside roadways. She was in her bed. Even so, she gets around on a motorized wheelchair and was on oxygen. Utimately, she made it to a ditch, but not under her own steam. She landed there, with her beloved husband still clinging to her, trying to protect her from injury. A neighbor came by and took them to the hospital, but she didn't make it.

My family grieves this Mother's Day, especially my 82-year-old cousin in Galena, Kansas, for who m my Missouri cousin was her closest relative. They kept each other company via daily email conversations. [Lot's of "cousins" in this blog, but I can't possibly explain the relationships--both women on are the Armitage side of my grandmother's family.]

I learned from my years working for FEMA that one can't measure how "bad" a disaster is, that if it affects you or your family, it's the worst. How true.

My Mother's Day advice: Pull your loved ones close, even by phone or email. Remember fondly those who are no longer with us, no matter their (or our) foibles. Love them for the good they represent. Reach out with your heart for those who are grieving today.

By now, American Airlines should be handling it better

For the second time in as many weeks most of the American Airlines fleet is grounded, stranding thousands of passengers. If the people at the top care one whit about their passengers, there’s scant evidence of it.

Before anyone says "they’re doing the best they can," let me jump in and point out their "best" is quite an indictment of the airline and its crisis management planning--or lack thereof. As part of the booking process, American Airlines asks first for my cell phone number, then home, then work, AND my email address.

Riddle me this, Batman. Why do they request this information if they don’t plan to use it for notification of delays and cancellations? American Airlines should turn its booking agents into "cancellation" agents to notify people of the problems before they show up at the airport. Not workable? Well, FIND A WAY!

You may sense some antagonism from me here. We ll, you’re absolutely correct. I had the unenviable experience of traveling with a handicapped child from Anchorage to Austin, with a three-day layover to visit family in Seattle. We arrived at SEATAC several hours early to reduce any stress. My husband and I both carry Treos so we can receive email and phone calls. The plane was grounded in Houston for mechanical problems, not an act of God. Hence, the airline had to get us home on their nickel.

Long lines formed at the check-in. They were explaining, one-by-one as people got to the front of the line, that the plane was cancelled and they were trying to book us on another flight. Then they told the entire group to go to another airline where we would be given seats. We troupe en masse to the other airline, which did not win any Brownie points either. The second airline told us that AA didn’t notify them and that we had go back to the AA counter. So we all troupe back over there, only to discover the three service lines were now down to one.

In the meantime, I called Southwest Airlines and booked seats for the three of us. But American Airlines doesn’t have a contract with Southwest and refused to pay for the tickets. Instead, American wanted us to stay overnight and hope to get on a seat the next morning. We took the Southwest flight.
Months and months later, with communication by snail mail since they do not have a customer service phone line, American magnanimously sent us tickets for future flights on American Airlines. Like I’d ever fly AA again! But here’s the kicker--they totally botched my son’s name, so it would have been another go-round to get that fixed.

I opted out. And that’s what thousands of passengers are likely to do.

Whew! I feel better now. That’s a three-year-old tale, and I’m still angry. How does an airline reclaim customers after events like that and these plane groundings? Two weeks ago, the grounding was taken with a grai n of salt, although the airline screwed up by not contacting passengers. This time, the grounding was because the mechanics didn’t handle the first grounding successfully. Do you trust their air-worthiness now? Free advice: AA should invite some of the reporters who specialize in aviation to show them what the airline is doing to make their planes mechanically safe.

The only way American Airlines can reclaim passenger appreciation and confidence beyond mechanical issues is to totally retool their booking and cancellation process. How about having a back-up phone center on standby to call passengers and handle rebooking on the phone?

Why not call in off-duty staff to handle passengers who get stuck in the airport. To rent buses to take people to hotels? How about putting up big signs at entrances to airport terminals notifying passengers BEFORE they turn in rental cars or even get out of their cabs?

Oh, the infinite ways American Airlines, or any airl ine, could improve customer service!

As long as reporters can interview distressed mothers stuck in the airport without enough diapers, or even money, to take care of their children, the airlines will suffer continued passenger anger and rejection.

The airline that chooses to make some of these changes in how they handle cancellations and does a good job of publicizing the changes will be the last one left flying.

Bloggers have major influence

Blue Daze obviously does not like gas pipelines. She took advantage of a distribution line explosion in far south Texas to promulgate fear.

A local firefighter said they were not sure exactly how this explosion happened but they are aware of similar explosion that happen across the United States. "They happen every now and then, they're pipelines and they're subject to wear and tear just like any other equipment that's out here."

Events like this make for great TV coverage, which is just natural. But where was the statement from the pipeline operator? Why didn't the company have a spokesperson on the spot? Or if that wasn't possible, they certainly could have conducted a phone interview.

The greater issue here, in addition to the loca l news coverage, is the widespread influence of bloggers like Blue Daze. The story appeared on more news sites than I could count, including one that caters to the paranoid.
If you care what the public thinks about your business, be certain you're monitoring blogs just as carefully as the traditional news media.

Paying forward pays big dividends

Two competing restaurants are offering a reward for finding a killer. It’s difficult to think of a better example of paying forward to develop a reservoir of good will.

Trudy's and Taco Shack are Austin, TX restaurants that have grown over the years to multiple locations, all within the city. They each have a business in the vicinity of a small park where a blind homeless man was murdered. And they each anted up funds to offer $5,000 for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the murderer.

Showing humanity above and beyond what typically is expected of a business is inspirational to the cynics of the world (I count myself as one of them) and raises the bar for corporate good citizenship. It also brings in customers who feel good about the eateries and adds a smile and bounce in the step of servers.

Even if, over the years, the public forgets about this positive action, news media i n the future will uncover it when they do research on the companies should they experience a crisis down the road. When the companies speak, their voices will be heard and much more likely to be believed.

Thanks, y’all, for being good corporate citizens. I’m jazzed by the example you’ve set, and I even have a bit of bounce in MY step because of you.

Wizard of Oz: Number One no-no in crisis management

In my list of issues I address in vulnerability audits I’ll have to add "officer stupidity."

Hometown hero (I live in Austin) John Mackey, chairman and CEO of Whole Foods, was outed as rahodeb, author of years of anonymous blogging that included negative comments about competitors.

Not only was it stupid--exposing this company to public ridicule, FTC scrutiny, and undermining employee confidence--it was amazingly childish. It reminds me of passing notes in class in junior high school, hoping they weren’t intercepted by the teacher, but getting a thrill out of the very process.

One has to wonder whether the chairman of such major business doesn’t have something better to do with his time. I have enough trouble working for my clients and trying to find time for my own blog. I can only conclude that he is the master of delegation!

Now that it has hit the fan, Mackey chooses to address reporter, investor and employee questions via the Whole Foods blog. Who wrote that? His attorneys? That’s how it reads. And a very unsatisfactory read at that.

Hiding behind his blog, Mackey is mimicking the Wizard of Oz rather than addressing the public’s questions. We need to hear his voice and read his body language to judge sincerity. In the meantime, we’re left to imagine our own answers to the questions: The Number One no-no in crisis management is hiding from the public!

And the little children shall lead the way.

He’s not so little, but a Boulder high school junior who took on Fox’s Bill O’Reilly recently conducted his interview in the most professional and assertive manner I’ve ever seen! Check it out soon before the link "dies."


Jesse Lange did it the right way.
1. He wore a suit and tie in counterpoint to the knit sport shirt worn by the teen presenting an opposing view.
2. He was respectful but firmly presented his point of view.
3. He was totally prepared with the exact words of an adult speaker at a high school meeting. The direct quotation disproved the contention that the speaker promoted drug use. Jesse held to his quotes in spite of what O’Reilly said.
4. Jesse then turned the tables, quoting from a section of O’Reilly’s book for kids. O’Reilly said Jesse was quoting him out of context. What fun!
5. The best part, in my opinion, was when O’Reilly called Jesse a pinhead. Jesse took the high road and ignored what could have been a rabbit trail that would take up precious seconds and eliminate the opportunity to address the real issue.
This young man has a terrific future ahead of him. Watch for his name in the next decade.
I highly recommend that you subscribe to www.Mediabistro.com. You’ll stay up to date on who’s working where and other behind-the-scenes media info.

Be first, but make it right!

We all know he who gets the message out first wins. Everyone else must attack from below--not a favorable point for attackers. The same truism holds if you are trying to correct your own message.

Austin, Texas, which prides itself on being a blue county in a red state, a liberal bastion of tolerance and the live music capital of the world, took a huge hit this week. A news release from the police department characterized the beating death of a Hispanic man as being by a mob of black men attending a Junteenth celebration. Local,regional and national news media picked up the story immediately. Austin came off looking racist to the national media and locally, leaders in both the black and Hispanic communities tried to fend off potential trouble.
By Day 3, the Austin mayor and police held a news conference to try to change the words and impression from that news release. The local media picked it up, but the national media ignored the "misstatements" and "further investigation reveals" comments. The city has a black eye and race relations are tenuous.
I’m curious who put wrote the release based on what information and who approved it. But that’s just my curiosity. It won’t change a thing.
The lesson learned is to follow the advice of Texas hero Davy Crockett: "Be sure you’re right, then go ahead."