The Law of Crisis PR Demands Leaders Put Skin in the Game

Presently, the president of the United States, members of Congress and corporate executives all share the dubious notoriety of having remarkably low credibility ratings. If they were football players they could all run around stadiums holding up index fingers and shout, “We are number one!” … number one on the public’s list of losers. We are sure Wall Street’s titans will also top that loser’s poll during the next go around.

So what can our leaders do to restore public faith in themselves, their institutions and the American system? What can they do to get us going in the right direction and keep this nation’s productivity and confidence on an upward path?

They can roll up their collective sleeves and put some skin in the game and show they personally have something to lose if they don’t perform well or do the work of their subordinates as a gesture of commitment and connection.

In almost every famous example of a leader finding someway to demonstrate serious commitment, there has followed success - at least immediately after the gesture.

President Harry Truman’s words always inspire confidence when repeated by a leader accepting responsibility – “The buck stops here.” Lee Iacocca resurrected Chrysler when he appeared on advertisements personally promising quality products and was more visible at factories and employee functions. James Burke, the chairman of Johnson & Johnson that produced the tainted Tylenol medication in the 1980’s regained public confidence for his corporations when he appeared in public, immediately yanking product off of shelves and demonstrating a willingness to lose money while turning his company around. Malden Mills factory owner Aaron Feuerstein immediately promised to personally keep paying salaries and insurance for employees after a huge fire destroyed his fleece factory in 1995, keeping the business viable, at least for the short term – now that is putting skin in the game and extraordinary leadership.

So, to inspire confidence, let’s turn crisis into opportunity and help our wounded economy rebound. We need leaders to abide by the Law of Crisis PR, get their hands dirty, and not fly over our current disaster looking out of a jet window at 15 thousand feet.

We are interested in hearing what you think.