The simplest crisis communications advice I can give is “Tell the truth”. Simple, yes. Easy, no.

Last week, while speaking at a conference, a delegate reminded me that sometimes it’s not so easy to take the high road, especially when senior management would rather go down that slippery-sloped other road — the one paved with good intentions.

While this delegate understood the importance of always telling his customers the truth, his senior executives have not always agreed. In challenging times, his supervisors have recommended keeping information quiet, taking a “wait and see if anyone finds out” approach and then left it to middle management to clean up the mess when it inevitably hit the fan.

This delegate’s management team may have had the best of intentions: let’s not rock the boat; we don’t have the resources to deal with this right now; it’s a complex issue that the public won’t understand, etc. There’s never a shortage of reasons as to why organizations elect to hide or hedge the truth. But ultimately these reasons all lead to the road to hell – good intentions or not.

While never recommended, the “wait and see” crisis communications approach was a plausible strategy in our pre-Internet days. But now information is easier to access than ever before. The Internet was a game-changer for how we do business and manage our reputations. Now we are all brands, from corporations to not-for-profits to individuals. And shouldn’t primary characteristics of our brands be honesty and truthfulness? Anything less erodes credibility and that’s a very tough value to replace or rebuild — for organizations and individuals.

My advice to the delegate was, “It’s time to try managing upwards.” In other words, he needs to convey to his supervisors the significant reputational damage they are risking by staying silent or minimizing an important issue. When you voice your concerns to your supervisors, you accomplish two things:

1)    you stay true to your ethics and values; and

2)  you present the opportunity for your supervisors to do the right thing.

Once you’ve conveyed how communicating anything less than the truth is a huge reputational gamble, hopefully senior management will join you on the high road. But if not, then it may be time for you to seek employment somewhere that truly shares your values. Aligning your personal brand with a corporate brand that chooses the road to hell will almost certainly ensure that you are dragged there with them.

Our reputations, our credibility and our personal brands are built by building honest relationships with our clients and customers. Any breach of that trust will land us on the road to hell — a fast moving highway with very few exit ramps.

Take the high road, the view is much better.

– Mo Douglas

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