MANAGEMENT

RUDY GIULIANI'S CRISIS COMMUNICATION

Extracted from
PR Commentary of O'Dwyer's PR Daily,
September 17, 2001
by Fraser P Seitel

A lot of people don't like Rudy Giuliani, the (former) New York City's mayor. But even Giuliani's harshest critics have had to admit that he has proven his finest in the aftermath of the September 11 tragedy.

His leadership in the face of unprecedented horror has demonstrated pure public relations genius. Giuliani's rare instincts can teach other politicians and public relations professionals alike how to seize public relations leadership in crisis. Indeed, recognizing the steps the mayor has followed - presumably instinctively - in confronting this crisis of all crises is more instructive than any crisis communication manual.

LEAD WITH ACTION

Communication is hollow and false if not bolstered by reality and fact. Action must come first. Mayor Giuliani understood this. Within what seemed like moments after the Trade Center crashes, Giuliani took charge of the rescue operation. He announced plans for the police, fire and emergency medical departments; designated hospitals and shelters and blood centers that would be used; and declared the roads, bridges and tunnels that would be used officially closed to the public. In subsequent days, he personally kept the public informed and updated on all the various actions that government was taking to restore order. He led with action.

GO QUICKLY TO THE SCENE OF THE TRAGEDY

Not only did Giuliani and Governor Pataki continually conduct news conferences at the Ground Zero epicenter of the carnage, but they both narrowly escaped death when they departed Building One, ten minutes before it imploded. Giuliani understood the importance of "symbolically bonding" with those affected by the tragedy, by rushing quickly to the scene of the onslaught.

COMMUNICATE CONTINUALLY

It is impossible in crisis to keep up with changing facts and information. But it is equally impossible to sit back and wait for all the facts to emerge before communicating. In crisis, uncertainty is the enemy. Nature abhors a vacuum. Others will fill the crisis information void if official sources don't come forward immediately and continually to set the communications agenda. Accordingly, Mayor Giuliani set the agenda early, with morning planning meetings of his
key aides followed by periodic press briefings to deliver specific messages. At one, he posted photos of the flight recorders that needed to be located. At another, he vowed to punish the bogus fund raisers and bomb scare callers. And at another, he pleaded against provocations of people of Arab descent.

DEMONSTRATE HUMANITY

Few things are more urgent in a crisis than showing a human face to those who grieve. But many leaders mistakenly consider it a "sign of weakness" to show emotion. As hard-nosed as he is, Rudy Giuliani has no trouble expressing emotion. Among the most poignant portraits was the mayor's hesitant, heart-rending acknowledgement of the loss of
three fire-fighting friends, who had accompanied him earlier in the day. In such tragedy, not only is it not wrong to show emotion - it is necessary.

USE SYMBOLS

In the Trade Center tragedy, the most memorable image was a horrific one - the sight of a jumbo jet crashing headlong into a steel tower and bringing down a nation. So here again, it was left to the mayor to come up with more hopeful, alternative symbolism. And so he did. With New York City's uniformed personnel the great heroes in the horror and with 300 fire fighters missing and feared dead, the mayor conducted his press conferences in an FDNY fire department baseball cap and an EMS medical worker windbreaker. In so doing, he transmitted to one and all that hope and heroism and courage and confidence were still very much alive, regardless of the devastation.

EXPRESS OPTIMISM

The final responsibility of a leader in crisis is to express the clear and unmistakable notion that "this too will pass." Rudy struck that tone early and often. "We're going to rebuild," he promised at the veryfirst press conference. "We're going to come out of this stronger than we were before. Emotionally stronger, politically stronger, economically stronger." By the second day, the mayor vowed, "Everything is safe right now in the city," and he exhorted Broadway and businesses to reopen and people to go back to work. "Returning to normal shows we are not afraid, shows confidence. So do things. Get out. Go to stores. Go to restaurants. Don't feel locked in. This is a horrible thing that's happened, the full dimensions of which we can't begin to understand. But we simply must continue to go about our lives," he said. Giuliani's language was as simple as it was eloquent - honest, straightforward, apolitical. And perhaps it was this quality, more than anything else, that distinguished him from all the other politicians.

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Last updated on 30 July 2002