Why P.R. Matters

My background includes some 15 years in sales & marketing and then an additional 17 years as a General Manager of hotels throughout the U.S. In these various positions I learned that a Public image is incredibly important, particularly when something goes wrong. As we've seen recently, people and companies who don't have some knowledge of how to handle disastrous situations can bring about further difficulties for themselves and/or the organizations they represent.

The most notable company, of course, would be British Petroleum and their representative Tony Hayward who has made so many blunders that virtually no one believes or trusts them anymore. Hayward may be a competent leader when things are going well, but, as has been proven in recent weeks, he is clueless as to how to handle himself in front of the press. One has to wonder exactly how a man holding his lofty position ever got there without some type of training in disaster communications. As Sonny Corleone once said to Tom Hagen, "You're not a war time, Consigliere." This would seem to apply to Mr. Hayward.

Another situation occurred just yesterday when an article appeared in Rolling Stone magazine. General Stanley McChrystal, the leader of the troops fighting the war in Afghanistan, had granted an earlier interview to reporters of this publication, and allowed access to other members of his command to these same reporters. What came out, of course, is that the General and his aides denigrated the President of the United States - a.k.a. The Commander in Chief, a.k.a. His Boss; The Vice President; the head of the Security Council; The Ambassador to Afghanistan; and a Diplomat of one of our allies.

While many regard General McChrystal as an "Intellectual", this, once again, proves that rarely, if ever, should members of the Military be categorized as "Intellectuals". As a former Marine - though not in such a lofty rank as General McChrystal - I knew that we were NOT allowed to EVER disparage the Commander in Chief. As a member of the Armed Forces you simply cannot do that - especially if you are a high ranking officer.

The right to free speech is one thing. As a civilian you can criticize the President all you want. As the man put in charge of running a war, you cannot. Perhaps General McChrystal believes he is indispensible and believes some of the articles that have been written about him - namely, that he is the only one that can win this war in Afghanistan. However, he certainly would have benefitted from some P.R. training. By his, and his officers comments for this magazine article, he has jeopardized not just his and his officers standing - but that of the United States of America, it's allies, it's troops and their morale. All because no one taught him the benefits of public relations.

Some people are urging President Obama to move cautiously as McChrystal is needed to bring this war to a close. I, on the other hand, think the President should simply fire him.

Old Fart Mike