Communicators: You need to recognize how your leaders react in a crisis

In a polarized landscape in which reactions are often instantaneous, communicators need to guide leaders through high-stakes messaging moments, both internally and externally.

During Ragan’s Crisis Communications Conference, Elizabeth Cook, senior vice president and senior partner at FleishmanHillard, said that communicators need to recognize the fact that their leaders are also human beings, which means they might react differently under pressure than they normally would. That sets up communicators to guide them through these moments of upheaval.

“The executive under pressure is not the same executive that you work with every day,” she said. “Stress behavior often emphasizes those challenging personality traits. If you work in-house, a crisis is the time to take a step back and really peel it back to some of the fundamentals about how they engage as a leader.”

She added that communicators should be tapped into who leaders will listen to in moments of crisis and forge relationships with them.