Videos: Expert encourages leaders to ACT in crisis

TAMPA, Fla.—You're the leader of a successful company. Outside of the usual fluctuations in business, things are going well. Then tragedy strikes.

A co-worker is killed on his way to work. Or perhaps he perishes in a work-related accident. Or worse yet, maybe he and his family are victims of a larger, terrorist attack.

What do you do? How do you handle a crisis?

Bob VandePol, an expert in company crises, suggests executives engage in the ACT process: Acknowledge. Communicate. Transition.

“When tragedy strikes your workplace, people look at leadership, and they will take their cue from you,” said VandePol, the executive director of employee assistance and church assistance programs at Pine Rest Christian Mental Health Services in Grand Rapids, Mich. “How you respond will echo throughout all the tears.”

In his previous role at Crisis Care Network, VandePol managed the firm's Command Center in New York City after the terrorist attacks on 9/11, and he regularly consults with businesses, universities and churches regarding organizational recovery following crises. He delivered a talk about crisis management and incident response at the recent Rubber Roller Group annual meeting in Tampa, Fla.

The first step, VandePol said, is one most people forget: Leaders must acknowledge the crisis.

“When a leader buries his head in the sand, doesn't acknowledge it, minimizes it, that ticks people off,” he said. “You need someone who can acknowledge it, use the real words, use the name (of the person involved in the tragedy), acknowledging the impact on people.”

He said by doing that, people pull together as a community and you as a manager demonstrate you care and that you are tough enough to handle the crisis.

VandePol cautioned that the impact of the crisis might affect employees in different ways. For example, it if involves the death of an employee, some may know the victim better than you. He advised that a manager only talk in terms of his relationship with that employee. “It shows you care.”

The next step perhaps is the most difficult: Communicate. “You have to be both competent and confident at the same time,” he said.

But he said only share what you know for sure. “Don't guess. Don't conjecture. Don't make anything up,” VandePol said, “because what you guess at, even if you don't say it, that will become gospel and multiply by 100 and spread.”

After some tragic events, he encouraged companies to hold a news conference. But he warned that only verified facts should be shared.

“It's OK to read a script,” he said. “Everybody understands it's tough.”

Finally, it's time for transition: What's the next step? Where does the company go from here?

Those steps might include employee assistance; hours of operation in the immediate aftermath of the situation; and/or updates on any memorial services, ways to donate or other pertinent information.

VandePol said every message must have three components.

“One, it needs to be an identification of who you are, bigger than just the incident. There needs to be a statement of who you are, what you do, how long you've been around, your position in the community. Two, there needs to be future tense verbs and plural pronouns: "We will ... We are committed to ... this is what we will do ...,' and three, there needs to be a powerful statement of, this is what we're doing for the people who are hurt. People go here first.”

VandePol said he has counseled several companies in the wake of difficult tragedies. They included bank robberies, explosions and shootings. He said his firm helped a company that had 24 employees aboard a U.S. Airways flight in New York City that averted disaster. The “Miracle on the Hudson,” as it was called, occurred in 2009 when pilot Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger maneuvered a plane to land in the river after collisions with birds shut down both engines. All 155 passengers and crew were evacuated successfully from the partially submerged plane.

“All 24 returned to work, with not a single worker's comp (claim),” he said. “Not all flew that day, but they all returned to work.”

VandePol said leaders in a company set a good example for their employees in light of a crisis. “Not only do you need to do things right, you need to make sure you do the right things,” he said. “You can do all the wrong things perfectly and fail.”

He said strengths and weaknesses are exacerbated after a crisis. If you tend to be indecisive, you tend to be paralyzed, or if you are decisive, you sometimes can turn into an autocrat.

“And if you have a nervous giggle,” VandePol said, “now you're intolerable.”

That's why he said it's imperative to have a plan ahead of time. “When my brain is kinda stupid because I'm freaking out ... Do I have a plan to know what to do and how to communicate that will be all right? Be prepared ahead of time.”

Part of that preparation is helping your employees through the process. Show them you care, he said.

He said people trust others with character and a good work ethic, and those who do the right thing. “People tend to trust people who give a rip about you,” he said.

VandePol said the body naturally adjusts in times of crisis. Your fingers and toes go cold. Some of your senses become heightened. Adrenaline flows through your body as sugar is dumped in your bloodstream. Taste buds become disconnected. You lose your ability to think abstractly, articulate, multitask and do complex things.

“That's how the animal kingdom protects itself,” VandePol said. “They either fight, take flight or freeze. You need to choose correctly.”

So when a tragedy strikes, he said, “you have to make brilliant decisions out of the dumbest part of your brain without having to think about it. That's the key. That's the value of having a plan.”

And invariably, those in charge are blamed, whether fairly or not.

“Blaming whoever is perceived to be in charge is as predictable a symptom of traumatic stress as bumps on your skin when you have the chicken pox,” VandePol said. “That's why we need to lead well.”

Leaders who bounce back from a crisis generally have three traits, he said: They are committed to a cause other than themselves, they have plenty of support from others, and they have a history of bouncing back from prior disappointments.

Doing those things will help your business thrive, he said.

“If you take care of your people, if you do the right thing, if you lead well and you are there for people on the worst day of their life,” VandePol said, “it impacts the bottom line.”