“The only way to get a good reputation is to endeavour to be what you want others to see”

-Socrates

As the gruesome tale of terror was unleashed on Mumbai on 26/11, lives were lost, innocent citizens, foreigners and soldiers. The shocked nation watched spellbound the media broadcasting this story non-stop, breaking news almost by the minute and one exclusive to match the other.

What followed this tragedy was not unexpected, a collective expression of anguish and anger by the common citizens against their own elected representatives, who had failed them and were seen as being completely out-of-touch with the mood of the nation.

It’s without doubt a failure of the government but were the crisis managers inadequately prepared to handle the media spotlight and its subsequent and on-going scrutiny of their actions.

Are there any lessons to be learnt? I believe the manner in 9.11 catastrophe was handled could teach us a few things in crisis management and communication?

Tragic and catastrophic events almost always come unbidden and often when key crisis managers are unavailable. It is any government’s worst nightmare when a large scale crisis leads to public scrutiny with the full media circus in play, real time.

Only the speed and quality of its response to the crisis combined with sensible and sensitive communication defines its public perception and once that opportunity is lost, it is a slippery slope from there. The Big Apple dealt with the catastrophe of 9/11 not only because of the exemplary leadership of Rudi Giuliani and the quality of the response of his team but also because of the deft handling of the global media spotlight that followed.

Inspite of the alleged massive intelligence failure, the magnitude of the crisis and the senseless loss of innocent lives, the manner in which the leadership of New York City responded and communicated, earned the respect and the gratitude of its citizens and riding that goodwill Mr. Giuliani eventually sought the Republican nomination for the Presidency of the United States.

Cut to Mumbai, in the same situation, the government (both state and central) only received brickbats for its inept response to the situation and well deserved criticism for the insensitive actions and statements of local and central politicians, during and post the crisis.

The brave soldiers and policemen who put their lives on the line and those who made the ultimate sacrifice will forever have the affection and gratitude of the people they defended and the citizens of India.

Clearly during a crisis, actions speak louder than words.

So, are there any lessons that our government could learn from the experience of NYC (9.11) and Mumbai (26.11)?

Based on my understanding of the media reports, though the local police responded bravely, they were inadequately prepared to deal with the threat in terms of training and equipment and to compound it further, they suffered a huge blow to their morale and “on scene” leadership when they lost ATS chief Hemant Karkare and a few other senior officers in the first few crucial hours. The NSG only started operations the next morning and according to their estimation – most lives were lost in the first couple of hours of the attack!

No elected leader was seen “in-charge” on the ground, as the city was gripped by fear and confusion. And when they did arrive, they were hardly seen to be in control of the situation. In that vacuum of leadership and credible information, the media relayed the pictures as they got them and made their own deductions. Can you blame them? It is only after twenty hours, the Prime Minister addressed the nation and by that time the battle was raging with the terrorists and the impact of the address was mostly lost!

During 9/11 Mr. Giuliani was the ‘crisis leader’ and operated with his team from a mobile command centre and ensured that all agencies worked under his instructions.

We need a well oiled ‘crisis response mechanism’ that ensures that the ‘golden hour’ is not lost, more importantly precious lives are not lost senselessly. Besides that we need to establish what is famously called the ‘situation room’ & a well trained ‘crisis management team’ with clearly defined roles. The aim of this team is to provide undisputed leadership during a crisis by eliminating confusion of instructions, ensuring coordination of multiple agencies and channelizes credible information to public and to powers that be.

It is not surprising that in the absence of nodal authority, what followed was a crisis communication nightmare! Every agency involved in the operation wanted their ‘fifteen minutes’ through interviews, sound bytes, press conferences and leaks of information, giving their own take of the events, often washing their dirty linen in public. This resulted in public being confused, misinformed and in some cases leakage of sensitive information in the public domain – compromising the operation or its subsequent investigation.

A good crisis management system also needs well defined ‘media handling guidelines’. News as ‘reality television’ is an inescapable fact and needs to be recognised for being so. Therefore, media guidelines should aim to ensure not only the safety of intrepid journalists covering the crisis but also help sift the facts from rumours. Most importantly, they should ensure that operational details are protected and lives of brave soldiers are not put to risk due to an inadvertent broadcast of sensitive operations.

We should learn from the events of 9/11. It taught the world that crisis instantly demand a meticulous ‘crisis management and communication’ plan. Such a blue print can emerge only with preparedness and clear understanding of the potential impact of mishandling such a disaster. Decisive action with clear and honest communication is the counter that can soften the negativity that surrounds catastrophe.

A lesson that Mr. Giuliani learnt so well that he has made a profession out of it!

Communication needs to be matched with action. Only then can it be heard and make a dent in times of crisis. A skilful semantic exercise can only fool people for so long and once the entire story unfolds, this initial rhetoric based on flimsy premise has the potential to lead to a negative spiral of reactions.

Some may see this as an oversimplification of a problem but in my experience of handling crisis, it is keeping things simple and clear that has led to an effective response.

In the aftermath of the crisis, if the Indian political leadership has to regain the confidence of its citizens then it could learn from 9/11 and respond to their concerns about protecting their way of life by:

Articulating a clear plan of action to handle such crisis

Following through on that plan within the promised timeframe:

• Communication of the progress of those actions regularly
• Involve the cross section of citizens in the crisis response drills.

They say in every challenge hides an opportunity: this is the opportunity for our political class to rise above their differences of opinion and ideologies and discharge their duty towards the citizens who have given them the privilege of being led by them.

This is not the time for spin but for clear action.

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Tags: Crisis Communication, Crisis Management, crisis management system, crisis response mechanism