1. Morgan Lyons, Dallas Area Rapid Transit June 4, 2015
Working through a crisis: communication approaches for board members and board support staff
Morgan Lyons, Dallas Area Rapid Transit
June 4, 2015

2. What we’re going to do Crisis? What crisis? Reputation management
What’s your role?
Answering questions

3. Crisis types
Simmering (Emergent)
Boiling (Immediate)

4. What’s a crisis? Operational
“Clothing store chain appealing to Valley Metro over 'explicit' ads”
“Family of woman killed when car was struck by Metro-North train sues”
“Drivers protest as RGRTA board meets”

5. What’s a crisis? Board conduct
“Absence of women on Toronto’s TTC board embarrassing, bad transit policy”
“Even pro-transit officials don’t ride HART bus”

6. What’s a crisis? Financial
“Inside the Rail Checkbook: More than $1 Billion Spent but Few Details to Go Along With It”

7. Victims, Villains, Heroes and the Audience
Crisis Actors
Victims, Villains, Heroes and the Audience

8. Managing a crisis Manage the crisis, manage your reputation
Focus on the possible, probable
Don’t do stupid stuff during the crisis

9. What’s your reputation worth?
Public trust
Voter support for funding

10. How do you get in a crisis?
Say something
“SORTA member: Hitler analogy 'bad example‘”
Do something )
“DART sure is working hard to keep that missing billion dollars missing”

11. What’s your role?
Private advisor
Public advisor
Agency spokesperson

12. Playing your part You don’t get to be the victim Don’t be the villain
It’s great to be the hero

13. Playing your part …but it’s ok to be the silent character
“Do what you do.”

14. Know your role
Private advisor
Public advisor
Agency spokesperson

15. What you need to know The facts of the crisis
How your agency is involved
What your agency is doing about it
Who is responsible for communicating your actions
How your message is being communicated and who is receiving it

16. What you need to know How you can help
How you can get the information you need to be helpful
Protecting the agency’s reputation is everyone’s job

17. Being the spokesperson
Scale of the issue requires another or a different voice
Board governance
Crisis in executive staff leadership

18. Being the spokesperson
Know who will talk to the media
Have the support of your board colleagues
Know your message; know your story

19. Three Interview takeaways
You’re always on. Don’t say it if you don’t want to hear it repeated.
It’s not personal, it’s business.
Greed is good. Have a message and stay on it.

20. The answer is the answer, is the answer, is the answer.
A Bonus takeaway
The answer is the answer, is the answer, is the answer. .

21. Wrapping up

22. Morgan Lyons, Dallas Area Rapid Transit June 4, 2015 mlyons@DART.org
Thanks for Listening
Working through a crisis: communication approaches for board members and board support staff
Morgan Lyons, Dallas Area Rapid Transit
June 4, 2015