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Executive leadership

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If you’re a baseball fan – almost regardless of which team you root for – New York Mets infielder Javier Báez is among the players you enjoy watching most. That’s largely because, since 2014, Báez has done things that almost no one else does, like this absurd play in Pittsburgh in May.

But Báez recently saw how being the center of attention can backfire – and demonstrated the tricky path public figures and organizations on the whole must walk these days. On one side is an increased emphasis on authenticity. On the other is the very real possibility that in speaking publicly, and from the heart, feet will occasionally end up in mouths.

What happened with Báez and the Mets provides good lessons for leaders of professional services organizations. In addition to illustrating the challenges around authenticity – especially in the age of social media – it showed the danger of overreacting and why building up a reservoir of goodwill has never been more important.

The Foot in the Mouth

On July 30, the struggling Chicago Cubs traded Báez – a team legend who played a key role in its  historic 2016 championship – to the playoff-hopeful Mets. For a variety of reasons, the Mets played poorly in August and, for fans, Báez’s positives weren’t outweighing his negatives, prompting boos Báez rarely heard in Chicago. Mets fans hadn’t seen enough of Báez’s flair on defense or as a baserunner – or his bat’s ability to carry a team for weeks – to look past five strikeouts in a game against the Marlins.

After the boos started, Báez and other Mets began celebrating big hits by pointing their thumbs down. When asked after a game to explain the gesture, Báez put his foot in his mouth. It’s worth reading his comments in full, but Báez basically said that he and other Mets, after performing well, wanted to let fans know how it felt to be booed.

What happened next was anything but subdued – and was also fairly predictable. The Mets owner and team president came out against Báez’s comments. The New York tabloids did what New York tabloids do. And Báez apologized a couple days later, sounding somewhat convincing and saying that he wasn’t booing the fans — but that his gesture was almost a subdued “How do you like me, now?” after their previous criticism.

But the damage, at least at that moment, was done. Pundits speculated that Báez had cemented his future as an ex-Met and hurt his chances generally in free agency this offseason. “It’s impossible to think of another prospective free agent making a bigger public relations mistake,” longtime baseball writer Buster Olney said.

How to Try to Avoid Flubs – and Prepare for Them

For professional services organizations, the first lesson from Báez’s verbal misstep is that being authentic doesn’t mean throwing caution to the wind. Báez and most athletes likely go through media training, but they’re also constantly bombarded with questions. Individuals who work for professional services organizations have fewer opportunities to make these mistakes and therefore less of an excuse for making them.

Preparing for interactions with reporters is crucial because of how quickly the wrong thing said in today’s 24/7 media climate can wreck a reputation, or do damage to an institution. But preparation should go beyond one-off prep sessions. If organizations have their houses in order from a communications and public relations standpoint – and have invested in developing a solid reputation that builds up a reservoir of goodwill – that’s the best way to be authentic without taking on too much risk.

This may be a long-term process, but it can provide a sort of communications resiliency – broad shoulders that allow an organization to take a PR hit every now and then. The Mets didn’t have such a reservoir in the lead up to Báez’s comments. Their previous GM was fired after a sexting scandal, the team’s owner publicly calls out underperforming players and there was even the highly implausible explanation for a team dustup about whether an animal in Citi Field was a rat or a raccoon.

When Flubs Happen

Like sports teams, professional services organizations are comprised of individuals who might say the wrong thing to a reporter, post something they shouldn’t on social media or simply do something in life that draws the wrong kind of attention. But it’s important that organizations don’t overreact in the heat of these moments.

Whether the Mets did that here is debatable – some might say quick action was needed – but at least one well-known baseball blogger called out Mets executives for their comments. “I get that the fans are the meal ticket, but the fans don’t fan without the players,” the blogger, Brett Taylor, said. “Praising the fans for booing the team ain’t exactly the best way to get on the players’ good side when you need them most.”

Perhaps the Mets could have figured that into their thinking, along with the realization that the glare of the modern spotlight is bright but especially fleeting. It certainly was when it came to Báez’s comments.

The day he apologized, Báez would go on to be key in sparking a huge come-from-behind win, including a big hit and baserunning straight out of his best days in Chicago. In an amusing footnote, a top Mets executive joined the Mets ground crew following the come-from-behind win in searching for an earring Báez lost around home plate while he was celebrating the big win with his teammates to the cheers of thousands.

The Mets’ struggles resumed after the win, and they’re now all but out of postseason contention. But Báez certainly isn’t to blame, with a strong performance that quieted the boos. His apology before the Mets’ come-from-behind win came on September 1, and he has a .380 batting average this month and (for more statistically inclined fans) a 1.118 OPS. It’s hard to see Báez getting blamed for the team’s shortcomings, with even the New York tabloids coming around in recent days.

That same tabloid pointed its finger at someone else as far as blame goes – controversial team owner Steve Cohen. One wonders how a smarter PR strategy might have avoided many of the Mets’ problems this season.

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Toyota recently made headlines when social justice watchdogs called them out for making $55,000 in donations to 37 politicians who objected to certifying the 2020 election. The backlash was fast and fierce. Consumers called for boycotts and it wasn’t long before the hashtag #ToyotaHatesDemocracy began trending on Twitter. 

As it so often happens, Toyota’s official response only made things worse. Their statement was vague and included familiar corporate PR speak, saying, “Toyota supports candidates based on their position on issues that are important to the auto industry and the company.” This led many in the Twitterverse to retort that democracy must not have been one of the “issues” factored in. Though Toyota has since tried to walk back and amend its response, the general consensus is too little, too late.

If you think that because you’re not in a consumer-facing industry this kind of blowback can’t happen to you, think again. Professional services firms are increasingly expected to treat social issues as business issues. Whether it’s answering for how diverse your firm is (or isn’t) or explaining why you’ve chosen to do business with a controversial figure, there will come a time when you’re forced to respond to criticism.

What should you say if you have no idea what to say? Or if, like Toyota, the answer you do have isn’t good enough?

Our advice? Get real. Lead with vulnerability and humility. Listen and learn from the people around you in order to develop authentic communications that demonstrate a positive commitment to change. 

Throughout this piece, we’ll look at the benefits of vulnerable communication as it relates to an emerging, salient example. Many businesses have recently added Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DE&I) metrics to their RFPs in an effort to hire firms who align with their values. The challenge? Most professional services firms are not diverse. So you will need to do some hard work to demonstrate you are truly committed to meaningful change and improvement.

With Vulnerability, Communications Can Be A Tool –Not a Shield

Transparency was the leadership theme throughout the 2010s. But today’s expectation goes even further. Leadership now requires a new level of vulnerability, openness, and skilled participation. Hiding behind your marketing messages or simple lip service is easier than ever to recognize. Your stakeholders, employees, and the public will see right through it.

With vulnerability, your communications can be a tool – not a shield. Vulnerability strengthens your position, increases your likelihood of winning over your prospective clients, and engages your employees in living up to your organizational values.

That doesn’t mean it’s easy. Many organizations use corporate speak not because they think it’s the best way to go, but to mitigate legal risk. There’s a balance here, though. You can still admit your firm isn’t perfect or that you don’t have all the answers to sensitive social issues without making statements that could pose legal risk. In the meantime, doing so will reduce skepticism and buy goodwill while you develop the meaningful messages and actions you ultimately want to deliver.  

In the DE&I context, responding vulnerably and authentically to this kind of scrutiny might mean owning up to the fact that your firm has a long way to go. If your workforce is not diverse, don’t pretend it is. Instead, be sincere and admit you need to make improvements, and then, when you’re ready, lay out your plan to do just that. 

Vulnerability Opens the Door to Collaborative Communication

Let’s be honest about this — if your leadership team lacks diversity, you shouldn’t be working on solving your DE&I shortcomings in a vacuum. Ask for help from people who have insights you don’t. Invite employees, stakeholders, clients, and even community members to weigh in on how to make measurable changes that will move your firm forward. 

To go beyond the performative and gather strategic input that will help you make authentic improvements, you might need to take a hard look at your current state. Ask questions about what your workplace is like right now for members of underrepresented groups. Really listen to their experiences. For instance, question:

  • Is your firm’s culture accessible and inclusive for women, Black, Latinx, AAPI, indigenous, disabled, LGBTQ+ and other marginalized groups? 
  • Do underrepresented groups have access to high value projects, clients and other work that affords them advancement opportunities?
  • Are all members of underrepresented groups safe from harassment? Do they receive equal pay for equal work?
  • What will it take to fill more seats at your leadership tables with people who represent a broad spectrum of diversity?

Resist the urge to ignore these uncomfortable or sensitive issues. Explore, debate, research, question, and reflect on these important topics with the people around you. Then, work together to formulate communications that convey the tangible improvements you plan to make. 

Vulnerability Invites Greater Accountability to Your Values

Your organizational values should act as your guardrails and guiding principles in all the areas you strive for change. So when you’ve developed the communications about how your organization is working toward improving your DE&I metrics, you also need to be vulnerable enough to invite your employees and stakeholders to call you out if you don’t follow through on your good intentions. 

Your employees, clients, and stakeholders may have better insight into your firm’s shortcomings than you do. Accountability gives them the freedom to speak up and tell you if they feel you aren’t making the positive changes you committed to. The best way to ensure they feel comfortable holding you accountable is to give them direct access to you and other leaders who have authority and power. Vulnerability and accessibility lead to accountability.

Need Help Harnessing the Power of Vulnerable Communications?

Responding to a DE&I metric on an RFP is just one example of how professional services firms are wrestling with how to communicate when they don’t know what to say. It can be challenging to drop the protective cloak of marketing language in favor of vulnerable communications — especially in conversations that make us uncomfortable or when legal risk is involved. But doing so will enable you to build stronger relationships with the employees, stakeholders, and clients whose buy-in and trust are essential in allowing you to reach your business objectives.

Whatever you do, don’t rely on tone-deaf marketing statements like Toyota did. Using communication as a tool instead of a shield — whether it’s responding to an RFP or releasing a public statement about a hot-button issue — shows empathy and will help you attract new clients and talented employees who are just as committed to social concerns as you are. 

If you realize you need help harnessing the power of vulnerability in your communications strategies, just reach out. We’d love to hear from you.

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We’ve all seen unprepared leaders lose control of difficult media conversations. Reporters delight in putting interviewees on the spot, tripping them up, and delving into topics respondents would rather avoid. But if as a leader you can’t skillfully and adeptly navigate these interactions, you risk undermining your own authority and harming your organization’s reputation.

Reporters aren’t the only people who will ask you pointed questions. In today’s world, control is disseminated more and more. And that means employees, stakeholders, and community members are free to challenge, test, and iterate on your ideas at any time. That’s a good thing. Because every media interview, town hall meeting, and hallway chat is another opportunity for you to strengthen your position, increase your influence, and solidify your message.

However, to effectively navigate these uncontrolled situations, you need to master the principles of positive, productive engagement within the original, uncontrolled environment executives have worked for decades to master – the news media.

The key is skilled participation, which can be accomplished by applying these tried and true techniques to every area of your professional life as your pathway to authentic, true authority.

Complete the Prerequisites of Skilled Participation

Skilled participation affords you an element of control in an uncontrolled environment. And the more uncontrolled the environment, the more credibility you earn by participating. But before you can master the techniques involved, start by doing some foundational thought work.

Shift Your Leadership Mindset

What it means to be an effective leader has changed dramatically. In the ’80’s, ’90’s and early aughts, leaders (especially CEOs) were high-powered executives who projected a carefully crafted image based on command and control. Confident, assured, possessing all the answers — but also unapproachable, inaccessible, and often inauthentic.

By contrast, the defining traits of effective leaders today are vulnerability and authenticity. You aren’t shielded by handlers and tucked away in your corner office on the top floor. Instead, you’re expected to be out on the playing field. Weighing in. Actively engaging. Opening yourself up to scrutiny. 

To do this well, you need to demonstrate a personal commitment to growth and continuous learning. This might involve moving forward with incomplete information, allowing yourself to be questioned, welcoming honest feedback, and admitting when you’re wrong.

Vulnerability and authenticity can be humbling, but these are the characteristics that invite others to connect with you, respect you, relate to you, and ultimately follow you. There’s no leadership authority without vulnerability. And if this sounds uncomfortable, it’s because it is. But more often than not, the credibility it fosters is worth the effort.

(Much like sitting down with a reporter.)

Refine Your Point of View

Skilled participation requires you to have a well-thought-out point of view on a variety of salient topics. That doesn’t mean you have answers for everything, but it does mean you’ve taken the time to carefully consider the issues that matter most to your stakeholders.

Polite society doesn’t exist anymore, which means you never know what topic might be thrown at you. At any moment, your employees and stakeholders can ask you hard questions about your business decisions, strategic vision, financial outlook, operational plan, and organizational values.

Furthermore, social issues are now business issues, too. From critical race theory to voting rights, you’ll need to be prepared to enter into authentic conversation about the ideas that matter — and not just to your business specifically, but to society at large. Because, what’s good for society is good for business. And there are new expectations for leaders as a result.  

Master These Proven Media Interview Techniques to Prepare for Skilled Participation

After you’ve completed the soft-skill prerequisites, it’s time to practice the media interview techniques that allow you to communicate your messaging effectively, no matter the arena you’re in. 

Deliver a Crisp, Compelling Message

Skilled participants excel at getting to the heart of a message quickly and distilling their agenda into digestible viewpoints. 

To craft an authoritative message, use these tactics:

  • Concreteness. Your audience should be able to visualize exactly what you’re saying. If you can’t draw it, it’s not concrete. Abstract, squishy language flatlines empathy and gives listeners permission to check out.
  • Emotion. Behavioral science tells us that humans are “feeling machines that think.” Reason and emotion are inseparable, and emotion is always more effective than cold, hard facts. If you want to propel people toward a decision or influence an outcome, strategic use of emotion is key.
  • Narrative. Stories are the transporters of persuasion. The more immersed we become in a compelling story, the more open we become to changing or challenging our beliefs. Peppering your messaging with “micro-narratives” is an excellent way to use the power of story while maintaining crisp message delivery.

Need an example of how to employ these techniques? Steve Jobs used these three elements perfectly when he introduced the iPhone during a transformative CNBC interview. He used concreteness to describe the iPhone as a computer you can fit in your pocket. Drawing on the emotion of frustration, he then talked about how easy the iPhone is to use compared to other technologies that were harder for users to learn. And finally, he told stories about how his team conceived the iPhone and how they approached the design and development process. 

Jobs’ discomfort with media interviews is well known, but he took himself out of his comfort zone and mastered the art of skilled participation. To become a true authority, you’ll need to do the same.

Build Your Argument Backwards

When building your argument, start at the end. Our natural tendency is to start at the beginning and build a strong argument systematically. But in a media setting — and in other uncontrolled settings — the longer you talk, the more you risk being interrupted before you can make your point. Don’t give your audience the opportunity to flip your script before you deliver the key takeaway.

Start with your headline. Then make your supporting points. Conclude with a summary to reemphasize the message and solidify it in your audience’s mind. Use repetition liberally. As organizational health consultant Patrick Lencioni says, your ultimate role is to be the “chief reminding officer.”

Expertly Maneuver Back to Your Agenda

In uncontrolled settings, you can’t follow a script word for word. But you can and should become proficient at maneuvering the conversation back to the ultimate message you want to convey. 

Blocking and bridging is the most common approach. This two-pronged strategy involves acknowledging the question and bridging the conversation back to a related topic that aligns with the message you want to share. 

For example, say an employee asks what you think about critical race theory. Perhaps you haven’t delved into this subject and aren’t familiar enough with the theory to provide a thoughtful point of view. You might respond by saying, “I don’t know much about critical race theory and I’ll need to do some research to make sure I understand it fully before I weigh in. But what I have thought about at great length is how our organization can do a better job of recruiting and retaining people of color. May I tell you about some of our recent diversity and inclusion efforts and ask for your feedback?”

This response shows you care about the overarching racial injustice issues that critical race theory seeks to address, signals that you are open to learning more about it, and invites honest conversation about the related issues your firm is actively working on. In short, responding this way demonstrates your authority. 

Preparation + Improv = Skilled Participation

Your final requirement for perfecting the art of skilled participation is to embrace and develop your improvisational mindset. Improvisation is the ability to think on your feet, adjust your messaging based on how it’s landing, and successfully navigate uncharted terrain. This comes back to relinquishing control. We live in a rapidly changing world and, as a leader, you’ll need to make decisions with incomplete information and answer questions you don’t necessarily see coming. 

But hear this. We aren’t advising you to fake it. Rather, we’re saying that — once you’ve prepared your messaging and mastered the art of engaging in media interviews — improvising comes down to trusting yourself. You are equipped to navigate the hard conversations that will come your way. You possess a reservoir of experience to help you improvise well.

At the end of the day, every conversation is improvisational because no authentic interaction is scripted. So suit up. You’ve refined your position and sharpened your skills. It’s time to skillfully participate to prove your authority.

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Twenty-first century leaders that refuse to recognize the social needs and interests of key actors will fail to capture market share. CMOs can help CEOs understand and act on emerging opportunities honestly, openly, and strategically.

Old norms die hard.

Nowhere is that more true than in corporate America, where executives are struggling to understand and accept, let alone keep up with, the expectations and demands of a new reality: what’s good for society is good for business.

As Fortune reported recently, more than a few CEOs are now “more willing to speak out on controversial social and political issues;” some leaders at the helm of progressive brands like PayPal, Intel, and Lyft have in recent years not only taken stands on selective social issues but changed company policy to connect company values with to shifting opinions and beliefs.

Still, many leaders cannot or simply will not waver from old business norms—specifically, the expectations that government, not companies, should address and tackle social issues. Not necessarily because they’re blind to complex issues like diversity, equity and inclusion, and voting rights but because they haven’t been able to reconcile both the philosophy and logic of capitalist economics, as Milton Friedman explained it in the last century. And do so with genuine, not performative, expressions of social responsibility.

For an elevated CMO, the C-suite’s “new utility player” as we reported in the first of our series of articles on the new norms of executive leadership, this moment presents a unique opportunity to serve and support his/her/their CEO and other members of executive leadership by designing new ways of connecting the social to business in this still-uncharted reality.

And before said reality leaves present-gen leaders behind.

Words followed by deeds

Once upon a time, a CEOs’ greatest tool was the language of obfuscation. Secrecy and privacy of a company’s top leader created an aura of control and power; decisions were made almost exclusively and unilaterally on the golf course or at the dinner table

Before the digital age, a CEO had limited inputs – and a certain degree of control over – predictable outcomes. Now, information and inputs to consider in decision-making at the C-suite level are seemingly infinite.  As such, sticking one’s digital head in the digital sand on everything from climate change to voting rights, whether through avoidance, obfuscation or silence, bespeaks of indifference or ignorance (or both) at a company’s highest levels.

On the other hand, if a company assumes a hastily conceived position that smacks of the performative, then it’s “let fly the rotten tomatoes!”

But the days of lip service and “let’s not and say we did” are over; the pandemic and technology made sure of it.

Part of the challenge – a big part – is understanding how, when, why, and where to have the conversation. Rare is there alignment between what is communicated one-on-one and in confidence over an almond milk latte at the nearest coffee bar, and what is expressed publicly in the conference room in the presence of executive and senior leadership, and peers.

The same goes for external comms – maybe the most effective press release isn’t a press release at all. It’s a proclamation AND a manifestation through deeds. 

Or, said another way, its words with acts.

Whatever a company does, whatever public position it takes or doesn’t take on a social issue, it must be willing to face and accept the fact that it’s going to make some group or groups of actors unhappy. That’s actually OK, if a CEO means exactly what he/she/they declare publicly; backs it up with swift, decisive action; and is willing to explain to clients and employees the reasons for the company’s behavior.

Most rationale actors in a corporate setting can live with said unhappiness; but no one likes to be left in the dark.

Or worse, deceived.

At such moments, the CMO can step in and help the CEO connect a social position to a company’s strategy and long-term goals; and in a way that makes sense for existing and future employees. He/she/they can use data and insights through a marketing lens to inform and influence discretionary behavior of employees; motivate them through new sets of expectations, and imaginative performance goals, thereby being a friend to the CHRO, too.

Why? Any CHRO worth his/her/their salt knows that talent is an asset on the balance sheet; and companies do well when said asset trades at a higher value.

Working together, the CMO and CHRO can, for example, design incentives for brand ambassadorship for all organization talent; confronting social issues and framing them in ways that make employees believe that they’re about something bigger than the product or service; bigger than even the company itself. (Think of a famous business school case study of a hot dog company that proclaimed its mission was to head-off a protein shortage in the future.)

Even if it’s simply an invitation to be a part of a larger conversation about the issue—in fact, corporations that convoke assemblies to discuss issues openly and honestly with actors of all ilks may find themselves in the best possible position of all if there is one in such highly charged times: the convener.

Such initiatives can have a direct, positive impact on employee efficiency and effectiveness, which are absolutely critical to a company’s growth, and, as important, to raising the value of the talent asset. These assets are  welcomed, not shunned, from the table in a corporate-sanctioned forum and encouraged to discuss the most important, meaningful, and complex social challenges of our time.

Coming up next in our executive leadership series: The Virtue of Accountability

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New complexities in the age of “cancel culture” are no longer just a challenge for celebrities. Increasingly, professional services firms face a new reality as online communities and individual actors use the power of social media to whip up public outcry because of the people or organizations firms represent.

These actors can be tenacious, even vicious. If they access your client list and accompanying email addresses, they will use that information to exert incredible pressure, sometimes going as far as demanding you fire your client or face their wrath.

In this evolving court of public opinion, you may feel the pressure to drop individuals and corporations who are controversial. And if you’re like us, you’re struggling with questions regarding the bastions of our liberal society — namely, free speech and the right to fair representation under the law — in the face of attacks that modern communications have made more intense. It takes deep pockets and a whole lot of courage to stand firm — to say nothing of the soul-searching that’s often necessary to make sure doing so is the right thing for your organization.

Here’s how to mitigate your risk of exposure and respond appropriately if and when you come under attack.

Refine (or Define) Your Firm’s Organizational Values 

On the social media battlefield, your organizational values are your first line of defense. But what does your firm truly stand for? 

Don’t roll your eyes just yet. Think about how common it is for firms facing criticism to release a statement claiming “this is not in line with our values.” Does that ring true if, in fact, it’s clear that their modus operandi is to prioritize top-line revenue above all else?

Before you can assess your risk and develop an authentic crisis communication strategy, the first step is to reevaluate and redefine your firm’s values. Who do you aspire to be? Is it time to evolve your position in order to be relevant in today’s world? Or do your values compel you to hold fast to a particular ideal, even in the face of criticism? Do your business practices demonstrate concern for prominent social issues such as racial justice, climate change, economic disparity, gender equality, and voting rights? And are you communicating effectively about the issues that matter to your firm and to society at large with confidence?

Once you’ve answered these questions, you can effectively assess your risk in light of your defined values.

Analyze Your Risk in 3 Key Areas

There are three unique areas of vulnerability for professional services firms — your talent, your clients, and your history. You’ll need to identify possible risks of exposure within each area.

Talent 

If your partners are involved in the political arena, are outspoken in ways that don’t align with your firm’s overarching values, or choose to represent problematic clients, those decisions can tarnish your firm’s reputation and test the bounds of your partnership agreements. To mitigate this risk, assess whether your talent pool is aligned around common values. In our experience, the best way to do this is to talk about those values as frequently as possible, solicit feedback from across the organization on the strength and accuracy of those values and ask your teams to share the ways in which they’ve relied on those values to make tough decisions. (And if your team can’t cite examples, it’s probably an indication that your values need to be revisited).

Clients 

Take a close look at your client rosters to identify any controversial individuals or companies in your fold. Do you have a firm handle on who your organization represents? Is there a clear process to make decisions on new engagements that have the potential to draw scrutiny? Do your newly-refined values guide you toward continuing to represent them? If so, proceed — but be sure to include specific clients like these in scenario planning so you’re ready to respond to outside criticism. If your values don’t align with continuing to represent that client, it’s time to make some hard decisions.

History 

Your past representations may also come to light when your firm faces scrutiny from a social advocacy group. These relationships leave fingerprints on your firm’s public image and likely will not simply fade with time. If your past decisions don’t align with your current values or today’s social context, they could come back to haunt you. It’s worth the time and effort to do the hard work of assessing past representations that may not reflect positively on your firm without proper explanation. Be prepared to face scrutiny for these engagements and be willing to explain why the organization’s decision to represent certain clients from the past was the right (or wrong) one.

Once you have a handle on the vulnerabilities that exist within your organization, it’s time to do a deep dive into possible scenarios that could arise using a simple scenario planning framework.

Conduct Worst-Case Scenario Planning 

How will you respond if the vulnerabilities you’ve identified in your talent, client, and history become a public issue that reflects negatively on the organization? The last thing you want to do is panic and react in a way that makes a bad situation even worse. 

Instead, take the time to conduct thorough scenario planning in advance to help you craft appropriate responses to a variety of hypothetical crises. Bring your C-suite, key partners, and members of your communication team together to develop a playbook for each scenario. The best strategy to mitigate reputational threats around talent, clients and history is to invest the time to prepare in advance.

Together, we suggest working through the following steps:

  • Plot the likely scenarios based on vulnerabilities identified in your talent pool, client list, and history. What decisions would you need to make in this situation? What actions would you need to take? 
  • Identify and prioritize the impacted audiences. Who will be most affected if an imagined crisis becomes reality? Clients? Partners? Employees? Among the audiences you identify, who is the highest priority? What perceptions need to be anticipated and addressed? 
  • Develop the messages each audience needs to hear. Now is the time to craft standby messaging that can be used in various scenarios and targeted to key audiences. Your messages will be stronger, clearer, and more strategic if you draft them now, rather than when you’re in the midst of the storm where emotions tend to cloud decision making and limit the possibilities.
  • Identify and prepare the right spokesperson(s). Choose the right media spokesperson (usually someone other than your CEO) to represent you — someone who is calm under pressure and has the credibility to represent the organization well. Allow them to practice delivering difficult messaging before a crisis actually hits. And only leverage your CEO when the issue(s) truly rise to the level of the C-suite. Remember that leveraging your CEO as the organization’s spokesperson is a message in and of itself.
  • Deliver key messages via the appropriate channels (internal and external). If possible, identify internal and external audiences who can help evaluate your messaging and give you honest feedback on how it lands. Social media in particular is a preferred communications medium among these online communities but is often not the most advantageous delivery mechanism for your organization. You may need to recast the communications approach to traditional media, for example, to help level the playing field.
  • Measure the impact so you can reassess and adapt as needed. Even in a hypothetical situation, practice adapting your messaging based on the feedback you receive from target audiences. Establishing effective feedback loops is critical to help you make the decision to shift course when necessary.

Don’t Waste a Good Crisis

Activist groups know how to use the super-charged political environment we all live in to their advantage. But you can use the threat of a hypothetical crisis to your firm’s advantage as well. After all, sometimes it takes an emergency (even a hypothetical one) to inspire organizations like yours to do the hard work that will end up enhancing your reputation in the long run.  

By strengthening your values, aligning your business decisions around your overarching principles, and crafting compelling messages for a variety of scenarios, you can win the hearts and minds of the audiences that really matter to you — your employees, your clients, and the various other stakeholders who contribute to your success.

Invest the time now to prepare for scrutiny from these online communities before you land in their crosshairs. You’ll be better prepared, you’ll likely uncover reputational vulnerabilities that you didn’t know existed previously, and your organization will emerge stronger and more aligned with its values as a result. 

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After a sharp, pandemic-induced slowdown, law firm M&A activity is heating up fast. Completed mergers tallied by Fairfax Associates in the first half of 2021 were on par with 2020, but several transformative deals announced in the second quarter – Crowell & Moring and Brinks Gilson, Holland & Knight and Thompson & Knight, to name a few — promise to reshape certain markets and are a harbinger of more activity to come. Altman Weil predicts we may see more than 100 new mergers or acquisitions by the end of 2021.

If you’re one of those 100 — or if you’re planning on a deal in 2022 — your merger has the potential to dramatically transform your firm’s culture and scope.  Even smaller, tuck-in acquisitions can significantly impact how you serve clients and develop business.  Meanwhile, the ongoing global health crisis and America’s racial reckoning, the greatest drivers of change in our age, continue to present challenges, particularly regarding how your clients expect their outside counsel to operate and how your employees think about their workplace. You need a thoughtful, proactive communication plan to demonstrate how the combined firm will meet the needs of these stakeholders in a rapidly evolving environment.

Instead of trying to convince everyone that the combining firms are perfect cultural fits – which by now has become a default headline message for every merger announcement — the most important thing you can do at the outset of a deal is instill confidence that the combination will deliver in important ways for your key stakeholders: clients and employees, first and foremost.  Luckily, we all learned a few things about communicating with clients and colleagues during the pandemic.

Here’s what you should keep top-of-mind as you get started:

1 – Don’t Abandon Zoom Yet

We heard it several times during a June 8 panel we moderated with current and former Fortune 500 GCs: We’re not going back to the way it was before. Remote communication is here to stay so make it work for you. Plan to get your clients on video immediately after your announcement, introduce them to your new colleagues – associates and counsels as well as partners – and if you can, showcase the broader diversity on the team. Offer remote training with new partners that strengthen important areas your clients care about.  Traveling from client to client to tout the benefits of your combination is time consuming and expensive – and it is no longer necessary.

Remote communication can help in other ways, too. R. Cameron Garrison, CEO of Lathrop GPM, which was formed days before the pandemic took hold in the US, said that doing business remotely and the need to communicate digitally put everyone on equal footing. “All of a sudden we weren’t thinking of two organizations trying to come together,” Garrison said about the mindset of the firm’s lawyers when the pandemic hit. “All of a sudden the entire framework shifted to ‘we.’ How are ‘we’ going to navigate this?”

2 – Demonstrate Depth and Progress

Clients want progress on DE&I.  And we know that they want more targeted, next level analysis in your more routine communications (alerts, newsletters, webinars, etc.). Deliver the same degree of detail to demonstrate how your combination helps you make progress in the areas clients really care about.  Start by answering these questions:

  • What is your overall vision and strategic plan for the new firm and how will it enhance client service? In other words, how does one + one = three, five or even more?
  • How does the newly combined firm stack up on DE&I metrics, and what action will the combined firm take to make tangible progress towards DE&I goals?
  • Will the combination allow your employees to flourish and grow in new ways? How will it enable you to attract new talent and retain the partners and associates you have?
  • What are some of the unique ways the combined firm will better serve large, institutional clients or an emerging sector? 
  • What areas of strength or niche capabilities will each party offer the other’s clients? 
  • Being transparent with clients and employees alike about your business case will help build excitement and goodwill —invaluable assets during integration.

3 – Get Creative About Culture

In normal times, post-merger integration involved a lot of travel. Leaders from each firm visited office locations to meet as many partners and associates as possible. Meetings, town halls, and cocktail hours provided opportunities for face-to-face networking. These in-person interactions helped create trust and rapport.

The pandemic put those tactics on hold. But one firm got creative and rented an RV to send its leadership team on the road. The team visited each office location and invited employees to connect in safe, socially distanced ways, providing a memorable and shared experience.

Also effective (if less dramatic), a Fortune 20 GC participant in the recent panel spoke about his legal department’s “camera-on” culture and how it provides the perfect opportunity to get to know associates, diverse lawyers and others working on their business.

As you prepare to ink a deal in the second half of 2021 or early 2022, look for out-of-the-box approaches like this to foster relationships between new colleagues and with clients, and forge a culture about which everyone can get excited.

Professional services firms don’t get too many newsworthy, all-eyes-on-you moments. A merger or acquisition is one of the few pivotal events that guarantees all your key stakeholders will be paying attention.

Lean into the communication tactics you developed during the pandemic. Amid ever-shifting circumstances, you learned that it’s impossible to over-communicate. Frequent, smart, transparent communication is key in a crisis — it’s also the cornerstone of effective change management. 

And don’t forget that this is your chance to build an exciting new culture around your M&A business case. Through effective external and internal communication, you can inspire your stakeholders and signal that your new direction is strategic, visionary, and purposeful. 

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