What I Learned as an FBI Hostage Negotiator You Can Use in Difficult Business Situations
People often ask me how I handled the stress of being a FBI hostage negotiator. I usually counter with, ‘well how do you handle the stress of your job?’ To which they typically reply ‘Oh come on, I don’t have people threating to kill someone if I mess up!’ Then I say ‘stress is relative.’ Let me explain.
What America’s Favorite Astrophysicist Can Teach You About Bad Timing and EQ
As a huge fan of Dr. Neil deGrasse Tyson’s, I was really taken aback by his viral tweet about the recent tragedies in El Paso and Dayton. The controversial tweet even made the Daily Show, where Trevor Noah skewered Tyson for his Spock-like response to the mass shootings.
Why Boeing Needs to Heed 3,000 Year Old Advice
3,000 years ago, Aristotle defined the three pillars of trust: • Perception of knowledge and expertise • Perception of openness and honesty • Perception of concern and care By Aristotle’s definition, Boeing has a long way to go before the public learns to trust them again. As communicators, there are things we can control […]
Don’t let your audience fill in the blanks
Does any of this sound familiar? “The other person/group/company is at fault. Not us.” “Yeah, some people are mad about this <fill in the blank>, but our brand will survive.” “People are really making a big deal out of one small mistake. Let’s just wait for it to blow over.” “We’ve experienced serious setbacks in […]
What’s your crisis style?
On September 11th, 2001, I was living and working in Manhattan. As the second plane hit the towers, you could feel the panic take over. Some people just started running. Others stood frozen in shock. Some screamed. Others wept. If you had asked me on September 10th how I would react to witnessing the worst […]