PRIOR TO CATCHING his flight, Dalton discussed the pros and cons of various ways to handle crisis management with Sojo CEO Brandon and CFO Kelli.

PEOPLE-CENTRIC SKILLS IN THIS CHAPTER

• What Is Crisis Management
• Potential Ways to Handle Crisis Management

KEY WORDS

• Crisis Management
• Transparent Communication

Dalton stopped by to say his goodbyes to Kelli. Kelli immediately brought him over to Brandon's office. He wanted to get Dalton's thoughts on how to handle the Julianne situation. They managed to catch Brandon in his corner office between meetings.

Brandon stood up to greet both of them, appearing cheerful and upbeat. The last few times Dalton had seen Brandon he was not so excited, so this was a pleasant change. “Dalton! Good to see you, my friend!” Brandon greeted Dalton warmly and sat back down. His body language was authoritative and confident. He leaned back in his executive chair, crossed his right leg over the left, and sat with his hands intertwined behind his head. Brandon began to speak. “I appreciate you stopping by. I know you have a flight to catch but I wanted to get your thoughts on next steps with Julianne. I don't think this will take more than a few minutes.”

Brandon spent a few minutes filling Dalton in on where SoJo was at with Julianne. She had not admitted guilt but continued to use excuses and plausible deniability to push back on SoJo. With Dalton's assistance, SoJo's counsel felt comfortable that they could speak to law enforcement and prosecute at any time. No decision had been made. In fact, they had discussed with Julianne a mutual exit from the organization. Julianne would be required to pay back the funds in question but these were offset by the bonus she had earned and not yet received this year. It was decision time: should SoJo allow her to leave the organization, or should they hand this over to the authorities and pursue legal action? Brandon finalized the introduction with this: “Either way, this is coming to a conclusion, which is what I want. I know there is definitely a choice that is the easy way out, but I am not sure if it is the right answer for us.”

Dalton went on a quick discursion; this was another of his favorite topics. “Brandon, you are correct. One of the routes to take is much easier than the other. Ultimately, it is up to you. I think you should consider which is the most risk-averse route. I'll add a side note with a quick story about Caleb and Liora. Both kids, in the span of a few months, had situations in school where something happened and their teacher told them they might call their parents about the issue. The issue itself was not important; the issue was whether the kids thought it was the right decision to tell us prior to their teacher calling, or whether they should not say anything, and risk their parents hearing it from the teacher first, and then try to explain why they did not tell them initially.

“Both Caleb and Liora told us before their teacher called, even though their teacher did not call. Why? My daughter gave me the best response. She said that everyone finds out about everything eventually, so I want to make sure you hear my side of the story first.”

Brandon curled his lip and let out a slight “hmmm” as Dalton paused. He continued by giving two scenarios and suggesting that Brandon consider which would be more harmful:

• Coming out ahead of the message now, publicly (as much as possible) owning the message, and sending the right message to the public: we will not tolerate unethical behavior and our company is on the up-and-up.

  OR

• Settling with Julianne and taking the chance on nothing getting out, but sending the wrong message internally and not transparently communicating internally, so the company became riddled with rumors and innuendo.

“Do we trust that Julianne will not be vengeful and fuel rumors? Do we trust that this will not get out publicly? If we do, then I think going the “‘easy’ route is viable. However, if we think there is a chance it gets out through the rumor mill, then SoJo could lose some credibility. There is a perception that many companies are gaining credibility by being transparent and getting ahead of the message.”

Kelli and Brandon took in this information thoughtfully and Brandon chimed in, “Dalton, you have given us something to think about. Thanks for serving as a true consultant and not giving me a straight answer!” Dalton knew immediately he was saying this lightheartedly.

Dalton exited with pleasantries, gave Kelli a warm hug, and headed out to catch his Uber, rushing to catch his flight back to Dallas. He settled in on the flight, excited to be heading home. Dalton did not like the travel but he was used it. It was always exciting to come home—to see the kids, for the weekend, for the time to take a proverbial deep breath, for all of the above!

As everyone boarded, Dalton received a text from Lauren, raw and sweet: “Enjoyed your training and spending some time with you. Would love to see you again soon. XOXO.” The text made him smile cheek to cheek. He thought about the possibilities as he zoned out and the flight took off for Dallas on a beautiful fall afternoon.