Mistakes and Coverups and Crises Management

It has always amazed me that the Trump White House has never employed or utilized the skills of a Crises Manager. Every organization of any size or import and with half way decent management skills, minimally has a Crises Management Plan and most likely a consultant Crises Manager (usually but not always an attorney) for that fateful day when something goes terribly wrong.

I spent a good many years managing a small private non-profit agency. Over those years, there were many things that could and sometimes did go wrong. We were providing support 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year to people with intellectual disabilities. Leading and managing a few hundred staff. People could and did die in the care of the organization, most of the time from natural and untoward incidents. But there was always the potential for that one terrible situation that could in and of itself bring the people and the organization to its knees. Life and death, personnel disasters, potential lawsuits and terrible public relations were always just around the corner.

There were many things I did and read to try to prepare for any such occasion. Workshops attended, policies written and approved, training myself, other managers and our Board of Directors. I'm certainly not the only one who has experienced this. Hospitals, schools and yes, government agencies have all had to learn and prepare for dealing with a crises. Honestly, mine were very small compared to anything I can imagine in terms of some of those larger organizations or running and administering an entire government.

But the principals are pretty much all the same. That's why I'm amazed that the Trump administration has absolutely no one to stand up and tell the President, "you have to do this, we need a plan for all to follow, for the sake of the country and perhaps for the world."

Lanny Davis, a fairly well known Democratic lawyer and spokesperson for many politicians, says it all in one simple line that cuts across all partisan lines. Here's what Davis says, "Tell it all, tell it early and tell it yourself". That's it. It sounds simple but no one in the White House seems to get it.

Mistakes are understandable under stress but can usually be corrected. Coverups on the other hand lead to nowhere but personal and administrative disaster. It's hard sometimes to follow the words of Davis. "Can't my PR person do it?" No. "Can't I fudge some of the facts?" Yes, but you'll regret it when you get caught. Never lie to the press - never. Say you don't have the information if you don't and get back when you do. But don't lie.

This is not a partisan argument but people need to understand that none of this is normal and we shouldn't want it to be. There is real damage being done to the institution of the White House and people working there.  The President should be measured on these mistakes and coverups. It should really scare everyone relative to the incompetence of handling what could have been an uncomfortable but honest discussion of a badly played personnel decision with many missteps. Blaming the FBI, or the White House Security and Personnel Office doesn't wash. The President, the Chief of Staff and the White House Attorney need to clear up the terrible decisions that were made and learn from these errors in judgement.