The ditch, the hole, and the tunnel

Leadership and Communications

Over my career, I’ve been involved in working with great companies in terrible circumstances. The bulk of those circumstances were traditional crisis management – a flash of bad news that, if handled correctly, would disappear in a few days or weeks. Rarely (thank god) I’ve been involved in a different level of crisis; a chronic crisis. A chronic crisis is one that not only has a much more far-reaching impact but also stretches for months and even years before we can begin to consider it over.

In those chronic crisis situations, a pattern of leadership reaction would emerge, a pattern I call the ditch, the hole, and the tunnel. In the first stage of the pattern, the ditch, is when leadership believes this is a typical crisis. They believe that the business has slipped into a ditch, which something they can pull out of with a little extra muscle.

The “it’s just a ditch” idea is often right, and most leaders are comfortable using tools they’ve managed with before. However when the crisis evolves into a chronic long term crisis, they find themselves in new, uncharted territory. Panic settles in, and even gifted leaders begin to believe that not only are they not in a ditch, they’re in a hole. In their communication with their teams, they convey their doom and gloom, often to explain why cutbacks and layoffs are required. 

History has taught us that in the aggregate, crisis situations, no matter their length, are tunnels.

Winter Prosapio, the atkins group

During the Great Recession, I had the good fortune to work in the financial industry. Those of us close to the industry understood how very deep the hole was. We recognized that what most people saw as a deep crater was actually the Grand Canyon – bigger, wider, and more fundamental. At that time we had the voice of Fed Chair Ben Bernake. Bernanke led with an eye on recovery 100% of the time. He never mislead anyone about the severity of the crisis, but he also made it clear that there was a way out – that we were in a tunnel, not a hole. I often look back at the way he communicated and recognize how he effectively managed to convey we were moving forward. And we did. 

(Here’s an interview on the COVID-19 crisis from the former Fed Chair that’s worth a listen)

History has taught us that in the aggregate, crisis situations, no matter their length, are tunnels. They may be long and pitch black, but there is an end to it, where light and recovery beckon. Industries are reshaped, cultures adjust, economies lurch forward. Leaders who communicate to their teams that their current crisis is a tunnel (like this great video from Santikos CEO, Tim Handren) will keep and build the long term trust of their people and community.

To be clear, communicating with a tunnel in mind is never about misleading people. It’s never about sugar-coating the truth. What you communicate may be dire – but you, your people, and your community will move forward. The train you are on still rolls forward, even in the darkest moments. The key is to keep your messages, your mind, and your team looking forward to that light at the end of the tunnel. 

Frankly, once you understand the tunnel mindset, you can focus on crisis recovery – but we’ll talk about how that works next time.

Winter D. Prosapio heads up Public Relations, Social Media, and Communications for The Atkins Group. She has 30 years of experience in corporate public relations, public affairs, and communications–and a black belt in crisis communications.

Image by StockSnap from Pixabay