7 Enduring Crisis Management Lessons From HBO’s ‘Succession’

The series finale last night of HBO’s popular Succession leaves behind important lessons for all business leaders about preventing and managing a crisis.

Over the the course of four seasons, audiences followed the trials and tribulations of a dysfunctional family’s feuding and maneuvering over the future of their company. Had the fictional Roy family been both real and responsible, they could have avoided or mitigated the crises they faced by following these crisis management best practices.

Prepare A Crisis Management Plan

A properly prepared plan addresses the following key questions:

• What will trigger a crisis for the organization?
• Who will take the lead in managing the crisis?
• Who will help address the various aspects of the crisis?
• What will be said to stakeholders and others when a crisis strikes?
• What resources will be needed to address the situation?

Have Contingency Plans

No one plan will likely be able to address every possible crisis that could strike a company or organization. That’s why it is critical to have different plans that would be activated in response to different scenarios that become a reality. The scenarios could include accidents, deaths, lawsuits, and allegations of sexual abuse.

Update The Plans

Be sure to review and update the plans regularly to ensure that they reflect the latest threats to your organization and how it would respond accordingly.

Test The Plan

Unless the plan is tested frequently, you’ll have no assurance that the plan will work when needed. Indeed, having a plan and not testing it is no different than having no plan at all.

Crisis management plans can be tested in a variety of ways, including table-top exercises, virtual and computer simulations, and thought exercises.

Consider All Worst-Case Scenarios

It helps to have an active imagination when preparing for a crisis. That means considering every worst-case scenario you think and hope will never become a reality and making provisions for responding to those scenarios if they become true.

It’s better to be prepared for the ‘it will never happen to us’ situation than to face it and have no idea how to respond. As always, better safe than sorry.

And, to the extent it is appropriate and possible, take steps to ensure that possible crisis situations never become a reality. This could include, for example, providing anti-sexual abuse training for all corporate officers and staff and conducting refresher training every year.

Think And Act Strategically

Don’t let emotions or knee-jerk reactions govern or influence how a crisis is managed. Everything that is said or done about the situation should be done of the basis careful, deliberate, and strategic considerations.

When making those decisions, be sure they are based on the best available and accurate information from trusted and reliable sources.

Communicate

Internal and external communication is key during any crisis. Be sure to keep all decision-makers posted about what should or will be done about the crisis and update them about any news or developments that could impact the organization's handling of the matter.

Do not repeat or spread rumors, outdated, or unverified information. Doing so could make a bad situation worse, extend the crisis—or even create a new crisis.