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Companies and organizations that do not put a top priority on preventing a crisis could be increasing their vulnerability to disasters, scandals, or other emergencies. Just ask the Louvre Museum in Paris where last month thieves stole tens of millions of dollars worth of jewelry. In the aftermath of the headline-making robbery, French officials took a close look at how well the museum’s collections are protected. The answers generated another round of headlines. “France’s state auditor issued a searing assessment of the Louvre Museum’s finances on Thursday, alleging its management prioritized the acquisition of new artworks over the maintenance and security of its existing collection,” the Wall Street Journal reported. In response, the Louvre said in a statement that, “The management of the world’s largest and most visited museum can only be judged fairly if the assessment is based on the long term,” according to the newspaper. And last week the museum announced it will implement a new $92 million master security plan, the museum said on its website. Having the right priorities The theft of France’s crown jewels provides important lessons for business leaders about having the right priorities for preventing and mitigating crisis situations at their businesses. “For corporations and organizations, having the right [and] necessary priorities to help prevent a crisis has moved from [being] important to critical in our real-time digitally connected society,” Zakiya Larry Wolfe, a crisis management expert and founder of Quest Media Group, told me via email. There are different ways to establish and rank the priorities. “The priorities should first include development of initiatives or programs that serve as proof-positive or ‘fixes’ in the event of a crisis. Next, organizations should prioritize a set framework for responsiveness [that includes] the people to be notified, the points of contact, the timelines for galvanizing this team, and a rubric to determine the type of external-facing [public] response, if any. This shortens response time, helps minimize damage to the brand and deepens the trust of supporters,” she explained. MORE FOR YOU Another way to rank the priorities for ways to prevent a crisis is to practice responding to different crisis scenarios. “The biggest myth in crisis management is that prevention lives in a binder. It actually lives in priorities. When leadership is guided by ego, speed, or optics instead of empathy, truth, and readiness, a crisis isn’t just possible, it’s predictable. The best organizations make ‘what if’ conversations part of their culture. They empower communicators early, align values with action, and prepare before pressure hits. That’s how you avoid headlines that start with ‘failure to act,’” Lakesha Cole, founder of She Spark Media, told me in an email interview. There are several steps business executives can take to identify and rank the most important crisis prevention priorities. “First, you need proactive vulnerability assessment. Sounds obvious, but most organizations don’t do this until they’re already dealing with a crisis. [Our] clients who come out ahead are the ones who’ve thought through their weak spots beforehand, not just identifying what could go wrong, but mapping out exactly how things would play out with different audiences and stakeholders,” Zach Hempen, Senior Director of Communications at Stripe Theory, told me in an email message. The second priority is real-time monitoring. “You can’t prevent what you can’t see coming. Organizations need systems tracking sentiment across digital platforms, social media, and traditional press before small concerns turn into full-blown crises. We’ve watched situations where catching something early meant dealing with 500 social mentions instead of 50,000,” he observed. To help establish and rank their crisis prevention priorities, companies need to understand the risks they face. “The board, leadership and executive team must be willing to take the time understand and talk about the risks facing the organization—and not just the obvious ones. Digging beneath the surface to understand, and plan for, organizational risks is critical to helping prevent and mitigate them,” Zach Olsen of Infinite Global, told me in an email message. Obtaining the necessary expertise and resources Establishing priorities but lacking the skills, expertise, and resources to implement them is not much different than having no priorities at all. “Have the right resources on hand. Smart organizations build teams of internal and external subject matter experts long before a crisis strikes. Working from a documented list of anticipated risks, an organization should assess what resources they need to face a crisis head on and build strong teams that will help efficiently mitigate the risk of each and resolve them to conclusion. This may include experts in internal investigations, data security, communications, human resources, government affairs, and others that are unique to your industry,” Olsen recommended. Working to prevent a crisis can be challenging and time-consuming. “The organizations that weather crises best are the ones that have already done the hard work of defining what matters most and embedding it into their culture and operations,” Pete Wentz, executive director of APCO, told me in an email interview.
