Learning From Past Crises to Navigate Post-COVID-19

Source: Shutterstock

When it comes to navigating crisis, I have been in the eye of many storms. As the president of ReputationUS and with 28 years of experience behind me, I have been striving to refine the art of managing corporate reputations during a crisis into a well-honed specialty. In regard to COVID-19, far be it from me to tell credit union leaders what they should be doing operationally at this time. But when it comes to crisis communications and reputation management, I believe they can learn plenty from previous crises to navigate us through this pandemic.

My recent crisis experiences include the 1992 riots in Los Angeles, when I was working at an NPR station in Southern California, and the 9-11 attacks in 2001, when I was representing the airline industry with public relations firm Webber Shandwick. Then, at the beginning of the financial crisis, I was the director of public relations at AIG, and later started a public relations firm representing banks and credit unions communicating through TARP. Since then, I’ve been advising banks and credit unions on issues ranging from hurricane relief efforts to active shooters and cyberattacks.