What valuable lessons have we learned from the NFL Commissioner and his actions before and after the video was released on Monday showing Ray Rice hitting his fiancé and knocking her out cold in the Atlantic City hotel elevator?
- The NFL is too big to fail. There are very close ties with the Commissioner and the owners of the football franchises. They protect themselves from anything that could tarnish the brand. The incident was collateral damage to the reputation of the NFL, Baltimore Ravens and of course to the player. The Commissioner acted by slapping ONLY a two game suspension after re-viewing partial tapes of the incident. Case closed, we handled it and protected the league, Ravens and the player; let’s move on. Everyone did until Monday.
- Leaders need to get involved early, stay involved and are the spokesperson; especially during a crisis situation. Goodell fumbled this one…big time. Goodell yesterday said “league officials asked Atlantic City authorities for anything pertinent after seeing the initial security footage, which showed Rice pulling his fiancé into the hallway. League officials asking for anything pertinent? Are you kidding me! First, you don’t have league officials asking for anything else that is pertinent. Goodell should have been visible and taken control and insisted that there was more footage from inside the elevator that needed to be released. Second, Goodell should not have come out and stated to CBS yesterday that the NFL only relied upon credible sources to obtain the information. Goodell was implying the security force at the hotel was not a credible source for the information. Who supplied the original footage? Law enforcement or the hotel security department? Either way the additional footage from within the elevator should have been available for review.
- Leaders need to man up! An executive from another NFL team admitted yesterday “clear mistakes were made.” The public needs to hear from the Commissioner who needs to speak out and be transparent and admit mistakes were made and articulate a plan for what will be done in the future.
- Trust in our officials was compromised! It is no wonder the trust with senior executives and elected officials is at an all time low. They do what is right from them and the organizations they represent. How about doing the right thing for the victim and also admit mistakes were made and implement policies to prevent these things from happening again.
In conclusion, we have learned a great deal about how leaders should and should not respond to and act in a crisis situation. Here is what leaders should do. Leaders need to quickly assess the situation and get ahead of it. They also need to be humble and realize, depending on the situation it could severally impact the organization in a negative manner. Leaders need to obtain information from all access points and then communicate to the proper stakeholders what will done and why. Don’t delegate this responsibility to someone in corporate communications or to other staff members. This is your job as the leader. Take responsibility and ownership. State the facts of the situation and what you are planning to do in response. Avoid shifting the blame, minimizing the problem, or stonewalling, all of which will further erode trust. Demonstrate your actions that will make it right. Show your stakeholders that you are following through on your communications. Action will reinforce your key communications and help restore trust. If mistakes are made, admit and tell the truth. Keep your audience up to date and communicate how the situation is progressing. Do the right thing and tell the truth and things should take care of themselves.