New Year Resolution for Teams: Have a Crisis Plan
An Analysis of the John Rocker Incident

Every crisis goes away. It's how you make it go away that's important. As Baseball and I'm sure the Braves can attest, an organization's perceptual assets are at least or often, more important than its physical assets. That certainly means an organization's or individual's image and/or brand. That said, when crisis hits, it would be much less painful to "go for the quick bleed, not the slow hemorrhage". Unfortunately for the Braves and the sport of baseball, someone was slow on the uptake.

Braves pitcher John Rocker has brought anything but relief to his team since Sports Illustrated published an article late last month in which he offended countless people with some incredibly mean spirited comments he later attributed to competitiveness.

Few escaped his jabs which slammed a variety of targets, including different ethnic and social groups, rival organizations and even his own teammates. The backlash from this interview has embroiled Rocker, the Braves, and the entire sport of baseball in another crisis much too soon after it had begun to successfully refurbish its image from a crippling labor dispute. For a franchise with a heritage that includes Hall of Famer Hank Aaron, Rocker’s slurs inevitably scar its well-honed image. While other players have crossed the headlines before and since for issues ranging from drug use to infidelity, Rocker has sparked a controversy that goes to the very fabric of American society--respect. How the team and baseball respond to this crisis will be remembered long after Rocker has left the headlines.

Baseball commissioner Bud Selig has ordered Rocker to undergo a psychological evaluation. His agent has warned him to refrain from speaking to the media before making further decisions regarding what if any penalties will be levied. While some have called for Rocker to be banished from baseball, others including Braves President Stan Kasten have postponed judgement despite public denunciation of Rocker’s comments. Though Rocker publicly expressed an apology, it came across to many as both stilted and as hollow as a wind tunnel. It's too late for the Braves and baseball to prepare for this fiasco though it's not too late for them and others to learn from it. In fact, the NHL has most recently ordered diversity training for one of its own after one player made a derogatory remark about another.

Developing a written Crisis Management Plan now could make a huge impact on how well your organization’s reputation and success withstand the event.

As the year begins, resolve to create or update your plans for coping with crisis to ensure a quick and confident response and frankly, lessen potential liability. "Hope for the best, but plan for the worst" should be the motto of any successful organization. You don’t send athletes out to compete without sufficient preparation, neither should your organization guard its identity with any less diligence. To vigilantly identify and evaluate potential problems, ask what could happen and how will you react when it does. Look at both the potential crisis impact as well as the probability of occurrence and don't go easy on yourselves. Don’t just think about these issues, write down specific responses that should be taken. Though not the key component of a Crisis Management Plan, media training is crucial. In a world of near instant communication, it's more important than ever that all members of an organization be informed on how to deal with the press. Saying the wrong thing to the wrong person at the wrong time can lead to big league headaches, as Atlanta has learned.

While no one but Rocker knows why he said the things he did to Sports Illustrated, he clearly broke many tenets of dealing professionally with the media. Think of protecting your future with an IRA. Not a financial IRA, but a media one.

Once you have a crisis management plan, educate your staff on how to use it; or you're rendering it useless. If you already have a plan, now is the perfect time to update it. Have priorities changed? Have positions or personnel been added? Have phone and other contact numbers been updated? Take a fresh look at your plan so that it will be ready when needed. It's crucial that your organization be on top of its game if it's going to effectively manage and control any degree of crisis in the new year and beyond. Vigilant thinking, careful planning, educating personnel and testing your Crisis Plan are four critical steps to protecting you and your organization.