What’s Keeping YOU Up at Night?
by Greg Wilson | April 2, 2014
The call usually comes at the end of the day. Sometimes it’s a voicemail message left in the wee hours of the morning that we retrieve at first light, around 6:00am. It always sounds the same, something like: “Houston, we have a problem.”
And so begins a relationship with a new client seeking our crisis communications counsel.
The first few minutes we spend with a client are hardly enlightening. There’s usually a lot of word-pulling and sugar-coating on every syllable. “Well … you see … it’s not really that big of a deal … but some people seem to think…”
Nobody ever likes to tell it like it is, especially when it’s bad news; really bad news. That’s why we have one question we love to ask, to get to the heart of the matter: “Tell us, what’s keeping you up at night?”
Then comes the big sigh, the shoulders begin to sag, the tension in the forehead magically begins to ease. The other shoe finally drops. Now we’re getting down to it – the nitty-gritty. What comes next is usually a full blown confession, warts and all, of what happened, why it’s bad, and the fears. Oh, the fears of everyone, including the spouse of the person telling the story, come pouring out. We get a full detailed description of the elephant in the room, and what he’s been up to for the last 24 hours!
Last week, POTUS got the chance to tell us what keeps HIM up at night. And I must admit, what’s keeping him up at night, with regard to national security and terrorism, would be pretty high up on my list too. As a current Washingtonian, part of me has a similar fear about a similar issue happening here at 18th & K Streets. But as a native New Yorker, I completely understand the ramifications of such a catastrophic event in NYC. Or LA, Chicago, or even a dozen other tight, heavily populated business/residential megalopolises.
Take five minutes and consider this: “What’s keeping YOU up at night?” If the answer is “nothing, I’m sleeping like a baby” then good for you, keep on truckin’. But if you are often awake at night, playing with that Rubik’s cube in your mind, then you have a little crisis work to do with your own life. Same holds true for your company. And in either case, it might be time for a little help, or at least find a trusted soul with whom to chat about it.
Goodnight!
