GREAT LEAP FORWARDS IN THE EXPLOSIVE DODD BOOK SURGE
We live in a time of explosive news.
Today this includes explosive news about the Dodd book “Great Answers To Tough Questions At Work”.
The explosive news about the Dodd book relates to the contest for the Management Book Of The Year Award 2016-2017.
The competition finds a winner that is declared to be “Management Gold”.
So read on…..
But first, there are communications learning points from the evermore explosive Galaxy 7 mobile phone and the evermore explosive Trump.
HOW TO GET BETTER COVERAGE THAN THE GALAXY 7 AND DONALD TRUMP
SCENARIO ONE: Your organisation makes what seems like a wonderful new offering that attracts lots of attention. However it has one problem. The offering has a tendency to burst into flames. It gets banned by airlines and causes alarm around the world.
SCENARIO TWO: Your organisation has a leader who attracts lots of attention. However he has one problem. The leader has a tendency to burst into flames at the slightest provocation or threat to his success. Heavyweights from inside your organisation start declaring publicly they no longer support him.
You may not be producing a product like the now infamous Samsung Galaxy 7 telephone. (Here’s hoping!)
And you may not be in an organisation headed by someone like Donald Trump. (Here’s hoping, especially if you’re in charge!)
But in media-readiness terms, it’s desirable to be trained to the point that you are capable of dealing with these kind of scenarios – and in fact capable of communicating effectively under pressure about anything that can go wrong.
If you plan, prepare and practise for it you are so much better equipped to deal with it at the crunch point – because your brain and the brains of your team have been there before.
BE READY FOR WHEN STUFF HAPPENS
On this particular occasion this particular Donald (Rumsfeld, one-time Defence Secretary – or Defense Secretary as he spelt it) was uttering a particular truth…though it wasn’t very sensitively put.
He was referring to the rampant violence and looting that broke out after the toppling of the Iraqi Government ten years ago.
However when stuff happens, your communication skills need to be ready for it.
LEARNING LESSONS FROM SAMSUNG
Samsung has stopped all sales and shipments of its Galaxy Note 7 phone as some of them have been catching fire.
Worse still, after offering supposedly safe replacement phones, Samsung has had to recall these too, as they had the same explosive qualities.
Samsung has rightly apologised. The head of it’s mobile business, Koh Dong-jin, made a public apology which included bowing low in front of the Korean media as he did so.
And he did get some positive messages across amidst the disaster as you can see here:
Samsung would have come over in a far more helpful way if most of its public statements did not involve hiding behind anonymous spokespeople.
It has put out too many media statements attributed to “an unnamed Samsung official” and “a Samsung rep”.
If your organisation is involved in a crisis, your spokespeople are far more believable, credible and helpful if they step out and let us see who they are.
This can help turn a crisis into an opportunity to build trust in the most difficult times.
LEARNING LESSONS FROM TRUMP
To avoid resembling Donald Trump’s communications performances in any way, try the following:
# Keep calm under pressure. At any sign of threat to your position, do not accuse a rival of being on drugs – especially if there is zero evidence to support the claim
# Come across like a winner. When you start saying there’s a vast conspiracy to rig things against you, you’re making yourself appear like a loser (something Donald Trump says he doesn’t approve of)
# Saying you will lock up your opponent when you’re in position to do so is a bad idea. It puts you in the same camp as some of the most infamous tyrants of history…Hitler, Stalin, Mugabe…
# Keep your behaviour, especially when talking on video, in line with how you would like to be perceived. If you’re dumb enough to make outrageous remarks on video about how you take advantage of other people (not recommended, incidentally) don’t be surprised if some of your victims suddenly appear – like those Trump-exploited women are doing across America – to publicly declare that what you actually said was exactly in line with how you behaved towards them
# If you’re going to make an apology on something (an inspired idea for much of what Donald Trump says), make sure you actually sound and look as if you really mean it rather than aggressively snarling it at the camera. Watch this CNN report to see how Donald Trump performs his apology!
GET READY FOR ANYTHING
You can plan to be so much better than this with the “Sample Draft Action Plan For Training To Deal With The Media In A Crisis”
This can cover dealing with the specific things you and your team need to be ready in any kind of emergency – from accident, to sabotage, to a terrorist attack.
If you’d like a copy of the Draft Action Plan email:
michael@michaeldoddcommunications.com
For details of sessions on “Giving Great Answers To Tough Questions” in your organisation and other communications-boosting master classes and keynotes at your conference go to:
http://www.michaeldoddcommunications.com/michael-dodd-services/
EXPLOSIVELY GOOD DODD BOOK NEWS
It had previously been nominated for the award. But now the eminent judging panel, including top business people, professors and others, have put it on the short list.
You can read all about the competition here: https://yearbook.managers.org.uk/book/great-answers-to-tough-questions-at-work/
Other entries include a book by the Manchester United Footballing giant, Sir Alex Ferguson.
Sir Alex has an amazing record of success – and is famous for giving miscreant footballers “The Hairdryer Treatment” involving a stream of expletives at such close range that it feels like a hairdryer blowing in your face.
Sir Alex provides a contrast to the mild mannered and not-quite-so-famous (yet) author, Michael Dodd, who is known for helping you answer “Blowtorch-On-The-Belly Questions” by giving “Great Answers To Tough Questions At Work”.
The Dodd book and the Ferguson book are both in what is called the “Commuter’s Read” category.
Judging panels will decide the winner in each section and will then declare the overall winner which gets the title “Management Book Of The Year”.
This book will be recognised as being “Management Gold” – regarded by the judges as “the very best in management writing”.
The judges are looking for a book with the potential to “transform the effectiveness of working managers or equip students for future management roles”.
The ultimate winner is announced at the award ceremony in February 2017.
Of course if Sir Alex Ferguson wins the award I will – learning from Donald Trump’s mistakes – refrain from accusing him of being on drugs, refrain from saying the contest has been rigged and refrain from saying he should be locked up.
And if Sir Alex doesn’t give me the “hairdryer treatment” I won’t give him the “blowtorch-on-the-belly treatment”.
Meanwhile as a reader of this ezine, you can get a 20% discount on “Great Answers To Tough Questions At Work” by using the secret code word “DODD” at:
http://eu.wiley.com/WileyCDA/WileyTitle/productCd-0857086391.html
Or you can purchase it on Amazon at:
And on Amazon.com you can see the 5 customer reviews – with an average rating of 5 gold stars.
https://www.amazon.com/product-reviews/0857086391/ref=cm_cr_dp_syn_footer?k=Great%20Answers%20to%20Tough%20Questions%20at%20Work&showViewpoints=1