So there I am minding my own business scanning Twitter and David Mullen follows me. I think, hey who’s this Mullen character, check his profile, then blog (which is my standard procedure before following) and read his piece What My Toddler Taught Me About Crisis Communication. It’s a solid piece.

Having five kids, my life is in a constant state of crisis, I mean really why limit it to just the toddler stage. David looks too young in his twitter picture to have teenagers, unless he does the politician’s trick and use a picture from 20 years ago. David, wait till you have teenagers, if you are not in a crisis, you are waiting for one. Or to use Steven Wright’s line, “you know what it feels like to lean back in your chair and right before you fall, you catch yourself. I feel like that all the time. More vintage Wright.

A key item to do in the middle of a crisis is take notes about what you would have done different in the events that led to the crisis. Take the notes, not immediately after the crisis, but while you are in it. If you wait till after you get the deer in the headlights response to the questions, “What did you learn from this crisis?”

While you are in the middle of the storm, there needs to be someone taking notes from the players making the decisions about the crisis. Someone who is close enough to the players that is writing down when someone says, “I wish I _____________” or I knew something wasn’t right when __________________

Those are the priceless pieces of information and human interest that will make the follow-up media coverage of the crisis credible, it will give humility to those who are otherwise viewed as powerful and all knowing. I’m not talking about admitting mistakes so the opposition can play the spoils, no I’m talking about learning and that requires even greater maturity and leadership.

A crisis is a reality TV show unfolding in real time with a potential impact far beyond the players on the screen. After the crisis, people and processes are going to be held accountable. That doesn’t necessarily mean publicly executed (not literally) etc. but accountable to teaching others about that crisis, how to avoid it. To explain what was it about that time, place, people, and situation leading up to the crisis that made it a harmful mix.

This is how we as a society learn. Turning this topic to the current financial crisis; It needs a full accounting, outside of the political circus, outside of the amphitheater of punishment, outside of the judgment of general philosophy of government. The public has a right to understand what were the intentions of policies, government and private sector, that led to a global and system-wide upheaval that impacts the knowing and unknowing, the guilty and innocent. It was long in the making, so don’t just look to yesterday, last year or this Administration. It is a situation that shows how countries and economies are interdependent. So we better keep an open mind and a silent tongue because this is a crisis we can’t afford to repeat. A lesson in humility and PR from Mr. Maruggi (my dad) who said , “keep your words soft and sweet cause one day you may have to eat them.” Thanks pops.

Time 21:28

You’ve probably heard about Eliot Spitzer and his, well, lapse in judgment. We’re not going to spend too much time rehashing the ins and outs of what happened and the political significance (or lack thereof, depending on your perspective). Instead, my colleague Mike Keliher, who heads our PR practice here at Provident Partners, and I are going to analyze this situation from a PR perspective and share some thoughts on crisis communication.

As I’ve mentioned before, I worked in politics for a long time, which included a stint as the press secretary for the Republican National Committee. So I’ve been around the block on political communication. In this podcast, we talk about the important considerations in planning crisis communication, using the political example as a teaching point for corporate situations.

The airline America loves to love, Southwest, is in a bit of a safety issue with the FAA and Congress. It is reported that some safety inspections were not conducted or planes not grounded. This post is to highlight Southwest’s PR handling of the situation.

As is the tradition of Southwest, they are upfront. Right on the home page of their website is a link to their statement on the story. Excellent. Some would counsel to put it in the news section, let the issue go through a 24-hour cycle and be done.

Compliments to Southwest and their entire team for their candor on the matter. In what appears to be an issue more about paperwork, bureaucracy and miscommunication instead of dangerous conditions. The language being used by media and Congress is predictably emotional: “unsafe,” “threatening safety,” and from Congressman James Oberstar, “one of the worst safety violations.”

The investigation also involves the Whistle Blower Program, which in itself creates an “us versus them” situation and not at a “Let’s see what happened here” investigation.

In addition to the Southwest statement being in position A on the website, the CEO, Gary Kelly, was on CNN this morning and made the expected rounds of media coverage. While this issue must go through its cycle, the initial round, which included Southwest airlines voluntarily disclosing missed inspections last spring, shows Southwest performing in accordance with its image of being upfront with its passengers.

P.S.: And as you’d expect, it’s on the Southwest Airlines Blog as well. Keep us posted, Southwest, and while it’s good to know your passengers are still using you to get away, your PR team is staying put to work professionally through an interesting situation.

My side comment: Blog leader Paula Berg is a class act in any situation. Great work, Paula.