As different as they were, however, today they were both sweating and nervous. Hope knew that neither of them had ever been through something like this before. Their involvement would be critical in handling this crisis, and Hope was curious to see how they would respond. She observed people and learned a lot about them just by watching. As she expected, Wayne spoke first, "I just got off the phone with Dan, and he'll be calling in about two minutes. I see everyone is here but Robert." Just like Wayne, Hope thought. Always trying to get control of the room and situation by identifying who's there and who's not. A regular master of the obvious. Everyone knew Robert was overseas closing a big sale with a government client.
"Shall we all sit down?" Jim asked as he motioned for everyone to take a seat.
The phone rang, Jim pressed the conference button, and Dan greeted everyone with a calm welcome. He was a tall, thin, mild-mannered CEO whose focused, calm demeanor was shaped by his years coaching college basketball. He eventually left his job as a basketball coach to start EZ Tech with a college buddy, but as Dan told Hope many times before: "I didn't leave coaching; I just chose a different arena to apply my principles." And, ironically, his leadership, coaching skills, and ability to handle pressure were being put to the test like never before.
Dan continued, "So as everyone knows, it's been a very challenging and interesting morning. I certainly haven't enjoyed being ridiculed on national television in front of the business community and my peers. I don't like that the credibility of this company and our great team is being questioned. We have certainly been knocked off our pedestal, and I am determined to do whatever it takes to solve our problems and regain the admiration and trust of our customers and the market. The world is watching, all eyes are on us, and how we respond will say everything about who we are and what we stand for. And so I ask you right now: Who is ready to take on this challenge with me?"
Everyone in the room responded in the affirmative.
"So let's tackle the issues one by one. First and foremost we need to address our battery problem. Jim and Ken, what are your thoughts on this?"
"Obviously we need to find the flaw," answered Jim.
"Great. And what else?"
"A recall?" Ken added, unconvincingly.
"No doubt about it," responded Dan. "Let's get on it immediately. Fix the problem and replace every battery with a new one. It will cost us now, but it will save our reputation and our future."
As usual Wayne jumped into the conversation. "I was thinking that we should also put together a three-point plan to share with the media explaining how we will address the battery problems and the other issues brought up on BTN today."
"I'm not surprised you had already thought of this, Wayne," laughed Dan. "And you are 100 percent right. We'll announce the recall immediately and then let the media know we are creating a three-point plan to address our challenges, and we will have it to them by Monday. And then we'll create a more in-depth plan to share with our board of directors who are very concerned—as they should be. This brings us to the issue of the bloggers and all the negative things about our company that are being leaked to the media. We have to do something about that. Any ideas?"
"I plan on having Hope find out who those bloggers are ASAP," Jim said with a raised, angry voice. Everyone stared at Hope, and she could feel them judging her. Her eyes were clearly still puffy and since it wasn't allergy season, it was clear to all that she had been crying again.
"We need to find the bloggers and talk to them," countered Dan. "But there's a bigger problem here than just a few negative bloggers. You see, in all my years of coaching, whenever I had a problem on my team I didn't blame the players, I blamed myself. And right now the media is right. I feel like we have lost our way, and I haven't done a good job coaching. I've ignored the very principles I have used to create successful basketball teams and to build this company. Today hit me like a sledgehammer, but it woke me up. I know what our problems are, and today we begin the process of finding and implementing solutions."