All this focus on the Super Bowl and our “Hoosier Hospitality” has me thinking a lot about the local church. What “Super” lessons should churches ponder as we consider how Indianapolis planned, promoted and welcomed more than one million visitors to the many Super Bowl events, concerts and the big game?

Here are some of my thoughts…

• VISION: The vision for Indy was crystal clear… create a thrilling experience with varied events/efforts that will involve and draw many people (record numbers would be great!) to Indianapolis. City/state leaders, paid organizers and volunteers were focused and committed to working together for this vision.
• VOLUNTEERS: More than 8,000 people volunteered. (Did you know that more than 13,000 tried to volunteer?) These folks were excited (motivated by a clear, compelling vision, no doubt!), well trained through a five-part training program and empowered to be important ambassadors for their city.
• THE GUEST EXPERIENCE: Organizers thought through every detail – big details and very small details – to make the guest experience hospitable, easy/convenient and memorable. Friendly greeters at the airport. Welcome cards from local children in hotel rooms. Helpful signage. Appealing events/activities. Guests were surprised (in a good way). They were comfortable. They wanted more.
• NEXT STEPS: Just flew in from New York? Lived in Indy your entire life? From the reportsI’ve read and in my own experience, whenever someone was ready to jump into the Super Bowl action, it was relatively simple to learn more about taking a next step (what was happening and when, who was welcome to attend, where to park, etc.). You could look online, check local media/other communication tools or see a friendly Super Bowl staff/volunteer onsite. These folks were decked out in Super Bowl volunteer t-shirts, blue & white scarves, “Ask Me” earmuffs and/or “Ask Me” flags.

Has anyone else been caught up reading about, watching or even experiencing the Super Bowl festivities? What “Super” lessons are on your list to consider?

It hurts when it happens. It damages those who have been offended by the statements, as well as the offending person and the organization they represent. But there are a few things that can help minimize the damages felt by all of those involved.

While these circumstances are stressful and cause that “the sky is falling” sensation, they can actually be turned around to yield some positive media traction. To clarify, I do not subscribe to the philosophy that says, “There’s no such thing as bad press.”

There is such a thing as bad press, and bad press is, well – bad.

But there are also varied levels of bad. On the lesser end of the spectrum, the negative can be a springboard for a teachable moment that can endear you to the folks who are in touch with your ministry. On the severe end of the spectrum, the negative can lead to your ultimate demise. However,  there are ways to avoid the worst-case scenario.

Here are some practical steps to take to help minimize damages and to help turn a PR nightmare into something benign, if not positive.

Immediately stop everything else you are doing and hit it head on. Time can either be your friend or enemy during a PR crisis, depending on how quickly you respond. In my experience, the sooner you attempt to wrangle “the beast”, the greater your chances of slaying it. Don’t hesitate to launch into a full-blown plan of attack and bring all of your assets to bear on the situation. The beast has claws, fangs and legs – and they will grow if you let them.

Apologize sincerely, thoroughly and clearly. There is no substitute for a well-crafted, thoughtful and sincere apology. If you are guilty, say so! Let them sense that you are genuinely sorry for your insensitivity, and the hurt you’ve caused (assuming you really are). Counsel with close associates to get their help on this. You will begin to diffuse the problem if they sense you are sincere. If not, you are simply pouring gasoline on the fire (and further damaging your brand).

Apologize in written and verbal forms. Provide numerous ways for people to be exposed to your apology, and to realize that you are taking this crisis seriously. If you write a great press release but only post it on your church or ministry website, then you’re increasing your risks. Work diligently, strategically and aggressively to circulate the press release to get the word out that you have apologized. (Bad press spreads like wildfire so your apology should follow suit.)

Explain what’s going on to those in your organization. It’s important to give a lot of details to your team to ensure that everyone is on the same page. These are the folks fielding the incoming calls, and they deserve to know the full story. They should also be informed about how to handle incoming queries. Designate a specific spokesperson and funnel everything to them. The sooner you nail down protocol, the better.

Try to discover the main source of the negative story. Oftentimes, news outlets simply pick up their news from other outlets, without generating original source content. It is helpful to trace articles backwards to determine where everyone is getting their story. It is usually a large and reputable news outlet or a newswire service. The more quickly you find the source and begin to work with them for resolve, the more quickly you might realize resolve. Maintain a Christ-like and professional attitude, and you might be surprised by how much they help. Be humble and don’t make demands. These are real people, too, and they are unlikely to respond well if you cop an attitude.

Chase down every negative story and share the apology with them. This could take weeks, months or even years, but only you will care enough to do so. Conduct daily Google searches to see who is still talking about the infraction, versus who is covering the apology. Express appreciation to those who are covering the apology. For those who aren’t, you should not only inform them of the apology (by pointing them to the written version), but ask them directly to post the apology and to expose their audience to it. Any reputable journalist or reporter should be happy to do so. If they are unwilling, don’t hesitate to notch up your request within their organization and nag them if necessary. Eventually, someone will pay attention to you and be responsive.

While these suggestions aren’t intended to cover every conceivable scenario, hopefully, they offer some helpful bits to get you started in the right direction.

I know this situation can be emotionally draining and chaotic. But do your best to out run, out think and out maneuver those who are spreading negativity. It might just help you flip this into a positive experience.

We welcome any and all feedback on this. In addition, I’m thinking about writing a few more posts on handling PR crises. Would you be willing to share any PR experiences of your own, or is there a PR crisis topic that you think I should cover?

Do we simply write this off as more immature cynicism or does it demand a deeper look? David Kinnaman’s research with the Barna Group may offer some insight.  Kinnaman writes, “Most Americans have first-hand experience in churches or parishes. But what happens, if anything, in the hearts and minds of those who attend?” Here’s what his research shows:

Connecting With God

Most people feel (66%) they connected with God while attending church. That is encouraging, yet a third never felt they did. And of those who did connect, only half did so at least monthly.

Experiencing Transformation

Only one quarter (26%) who had been to church before said that their life had been changed or “greatly” affected by attending church. Nearly half (46%) said their life had not been changed at all.

Getting New Insight

Asked to think about their last church visit, 61% said that they could not remember a significant or important new insight or understanding related to faith.

Feeling Cared For

Nearly 70% said when they attend church they feel “a part of a group who are united in their beliefs and who take care of each other in practical ways.” On the other hand, one quarter shared that church feels like “a group sharing the same space in a public event, but who are not connected in a real way.”

Helping The Poor

Nearly 40% shared that caring for the poor was emphasized “a lot”, while 33% said it was “somewhat” of a priority.

Church size didn’t seem to impact the results, however, age did.  Those older than 47 (boomers) scored, on average, 14% higher on all scales. Mosaics (18-27), like Jefferson Bethke, scored far lower with only 20% feeling that church affected their life, 35% feel church gives them spiritual insight, and 56% felt a personal connection with God at church.

Is it this failure to connect our young adults with God, and significantly impact their life what fuels Bethke’s rant? If so, how do we more effectively do “church” going forward?

In a collaborative learning effort with Al Hirsch, 30 pastors met last week in Seattle to address this very issue. Their goal is to engage the hearts and minds of their congregations through missional ministry efforts. You can become a part of this effort as well at: www.missional.com.

Here are a few leadership principles we need to execute well as we redesign their building and their expectations. These are good steps to consider any time you have to lead a change of direction.

1. Explain the journey

Not everyone is going to know the whole story, so you have to make sure people understand the path that led to where you are. If they don’t understand the problem, chances are, they won’t buy in to the solution. No buy in equals no change.

2. Take responsibility

It’s often easy to look back at the decisions you’ve made and say, “That wasn’t very smart”. However, you’re making decisions based on what you believe the outcome will be with faith. If you’ve held a leadership role long enough, you know things don’t always end up as planned. Take the appropriate amount of responsibility and leave out the “buts”. Nobody kicks the guy who’s taking blame. A big lesson I learned when working for John Maxwell was this, “If you’re the leader and there is a problem, you’re the problem! You’re also the solution.”

3. Reality and Hope

Once you’ve talked about the path, and taken responsibility, you need to talk about where you are presently. This is where you help people understand the magnitude of the situation and its potential effects.

Make sure you take time yourself to understand this situation and marinate on it, so you can communicate with passion. You have to balance the current reality with vision for a better future. That vision must be accompanied by the strategy and tactics that will make your future vision your new reality.

4. Have a Solid Strategy

IF YOU DONT HAVE A PLAN…DON’T CALL A MEETING! Once you realize a change of path has to happen, you have to formulate a plan of action that includes the people involved in the solution, what action they must take and how you’ll bring them “on-board” with your strategy.

Seth Godin said a Linchpin leader “solves interesting problems and leads”. When the best laid plans don’t work out, you get the opportunity to do both.

The work of alignment is the work of always asking the right questions.  Some of these questions may be:

• Is the action we are about to take run through one or more of our core values?
• Is the direction we are considering, going to forward the mission?
• Are we focused on our target audience?
• Do our processes honor our core values?
• Will the use of our resources move us closer to realizing our vision?
• Do our decision-making processes align with our core values?

So, off we go to “do” alignment!  But sometimes I worry that alignment can be seen as a strategy that we implement that can get us where we want to go.  “If we just put a strategy together to get aligned – then we can move on.”  This looks at alignment as a task to accomplish and check off when “done.”  We think that we have accomplished alignment.  This would bring the benefits of alignment for a short time, but then the organization would slowly drift away from that alignment . . . the dreaded . . . entropy!

Instead of seeing the work of alignment as a strategy to be accomplished, we need to see it as a way of life – a new culture within the organization.  Thus, alignment needs to be seen as ongoing work.  At first, if it is new to the organization, it will feel foreign.  Always asking the alignment questions of one another may feel forced.  But, if this is seen as a way of life, soon the questions will need to be asked less and the alignment will come naturally.  No conversations, no plans, no visioning processes, and no staffing decisions will be made without knowing at the core that they all have to do with alignment.  It is then that the benefits of alignment will begin to permeate the organization.

The benefits of alignment include:

• Collaborative focus within teams
• Common engagement of leadership
• Faithful prioritization of resources
• Reduction of conflict
• Accountability around the right things – identity and purpose
• Focused strategies that have missional impact
• Higher employee and volunteer engagement

So, don’t try a strategy of alignment.  Instead, build a culture of alignment – alignment as a way of organizational living.