During her presentation to the Ottawa chapter of the IABC last week, Linda Smith shared her experience as a member of the communications team for Maple Leaf Foods during their listeriosis monocytgenes (listeria) crisis last year. Ms. Smith was with Fleishman Hillard (my current employer) at the time. She has since left FH and launched her own company.
The presentation was titled “The Importance of Values Through Crisis” and it focused heavily on Maple Leaf Foods President Michael McCain‘s leadership through the best of times and the most challenging of them. No matter how much you can compare his handling of the crisis to the “Tylenol model“, Mr. McCain was genuine and sincere in his approach. And his central concern remained people throughout the crisis. It was risky and simple and based on Mr. McCain’s value system that people come first — before lawyers and accountants.
It would take too long to go through the details of what was done and how. It would also be interesting to discuss values. However, you either have the necessary values as part of who you are or you don’t. If you have them, you’ll know what this is all about and your values can become part of your company. If you don’t have them, trying to explain what’s needed to be the kind of leader Mr. McCain is will be futile — it will just be words.
What I do want to do is share a single statement Ms. Smith used to describe what Mr. McCain did to help Maple Leaf Foods respond to the crisis, correct the root cause and grow from the experience while helping the food industry and the public as a whole.
Develop a basis for trust.
comment