Lessons Shared: Dr. Peter Sandman

I recently had the good fortune to spend two days working with Dr. Peter Sandman, the world's guru of "risk and hazard communication". Peter coined these phrases and concepts in the 1980's and has spent much of the last two decades consulting with large corporations and government bodies regarding how to talk with hostile audiences, near neighbors, environmental groups and others who have developed a strong sense of anxiety and anger around issues and fears they deem to be important and "real". Peter's approach to helping manage these situations and relationships is quite unconventional and very much worth considering.


As such, I've listed below a few of the better take-aways from my time with Peter which may be of interest to you.

1. Coroporate reputations are rooted in performance not just PR. Simply telling the public you're a good corporate citizen won't get it done.

2. Everyone (communities who deem themselves to be at risk) has been lied to before--by government, regulators, corporations, etc.; they often have good reasons to be cynical and angry. Don't take it personally, but do take it seriously.

3. People don't care what you have to say until you demonstrate a willingness to listen to them first.

4. In times of crisis--oil spills, plant explosions, chemical releases, etc., the biggest difference between corporations and the public is that corporations have no "rights". Rights are reserved strictly for the public.

5. When it comes to resolving differences of opinion, rehashing years of history--pollution, health problems, etc. won't get it done. Seek to change the conversation and refocus it toward the future and how to make needed changes in communication and priorities going forward.

6. There's often a big difference between the "public" and your "stakeholders". Stakeholders have a real stake in the game; the public merely has a passing interest that fades with the next
news cycle. Understand who your audience really is.

7. Stakeholders always start from a different place than corporate managers, HR staff and corporate spokespeople. Accept and understand that fact and acknowledge that difference in all your communications.

8. There's a big difference between solving the problem and making the problem manageable. Make sure your goal is rooted in what is actually realistic.

9. All communication should be driven by guiding principles which, in turn, set the strategy. Strategy should not set the guiding principles.

10. Today's institutional investors are paying a lot more attention to corporate "values" and not just corporate "value".

11. Show real empathy. There's a big difference between saying you're sorry and saying you did something wrong.

12. The biggest mistake corporations make in managing a crisis is to not tell the truth. The second biggest mistake is to unrealistically raise expectations for a fast and full resolution and short selling the potential for real harm.

13. Isolate fanatics and find activists you can really talk with even if you don't like what they have to say.