Don’t let someone else drive your narrative into a ditch

Did you know that Los Angeles County lifeguards saved 25 people per day from drowning in 2021, supported firefighters battling California’s wildfires, and helped with COVID-19 response efforts?

That’s the positive narrative. The negative one is that taxpayers got ripped off because 98 lifeguards made over $200,000 last year.

There are two sides to every story. In this case, the negative one dominated headlines this summer because LA County failed to put its positive narrative in front of stakeholders. It let someone else drive the positive narrative straight into a ditch.

Every company will eventually face a crisis. It might be unhappy customers and staff bashing you online, a market shift like inflation or supply-chain shortages, or execution mistakes which cost clients money and time.

How you recover from such crises is important. But what’s even more important is being ready ahead of time – by building trust long before you need it, and having a plan for when a crisis hits.

Read more about LA County’s lifeguard crisis in our recent essay, then read how to prepare for, and recover from, a crisis.