Baltimore: Own Mistakes To Avoid Fires

As the city of Baltimore descended into chaos and lawlessness earlier this week, many fingers immediately pointed to Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake. Several of you have probably already seen this video by now, where the mayor clearly and unequivocally stated that she had directed Baltimore police officers to "give those who wished to destroy space to do that."

Ouch, bam, thud. The bewildering remark was never walked back or corrected in the immediate aftermath, an obvious PR blunder on full display on the national stage. This was bad enough, but Mayor Rawlings-Blake multiplied her troubles by doubling down on the remark. The day after, her press office issued a statement claiming the mayor had been misunderstood. "The mayor is not saying that she asked police to give space to people who sought to create violence. Any suggestion otherwise would be a misinterpretation of her statement." Huh? But the knockout blow came on Monday, where the now reeling mayor accused the media of creating a "very blatant mischaracterization of my words" before going on to claim that she never said what she actually said, despite a roomful of reporters who heard her say those very words just 48 hours earlier. Walking out on a live CNN interview later on was the cherry on top for a day that should have ended with the immediate firing for anyone who was advising her.

I'll leave opinion on the mayor's actual policies and their effectiveness, or ineffectiveness, to someone else. The lesson to be focused on here is public relations strategy, and what to do when a politician, business leader, athlete or anyone else in the public eye says something wrong, offensive, and/or just plain stupid. Lying, denying, blaming or any kind of combo to form a bizarre explanation? No, no, no and definitely no. Hello, Lance Armstrong, Paula Deen and anyone else left behind in the junkyard of former notable personalities. This isn't just for individuals, but organizations too. Exhibit A: Mountain Dew accusing a customer of lying after he found a dead mouse in his drink in 2009, insisting the soda would have dissolved the mouse's corpse into jelly. Apparently, the brains of the company also dissolved into jelly that day.

So what should you do if you are that notable personality or organization, or you're advising them? Here's a novel concept: The truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. "But I/we/they will take a hit!" Hey genius, you already took a hit when you opened your mouth and said the wrong thing. I know that may sound harsh to some, but once the initial mistake has been made, it's about damage control, not damage avoidance. The key is to keep it at mistake, singular, instead of having a pile-up of errors and ensuing media circus. Take full responsibility for what you said or did, admit the error of your ways, and apologize to anyone who may have been hurt. This is about nipping things in the bud and dealing with adversity head-on. In the instance of Mayor Rawlings-Blake , she could have come out later the same day and said "Hey, I need to clarify something I said earlier. After reviewing my words, it's clear the message I mistakenly sent was that we would let rioters have their "space". So let me now be perfectly clear by stating there will be absolutely zero tolerance for anyone destroying property. None, nill, not going to happen. Hope this clears things up." So much trouble avoided by a simple 15 second statement.

Americans are generally quick to forgive. We relate and connect our own personal story to others who have tripped or fallen, even deeply, because we too have all failed at some point. Yet you will consistently find that no one wants to consciously connect to someone who lies, covers up or tries to set someone else up for the fall after the initial mistake or misstep. Customers, fans and voters will simply walk away and move on, never to return. The wounds were self-inflicted, and usually fatal. Don't be that person or organization. Be a truth-teller, be quick to clean-up and make things right, and know that one mistake, even one that's painfully public and embarrassing, is not the end. It's not just good business, it's the right thing to do.