It is no secret that I LOVE me some Seattle Seahawks and Sherman, and as you can imagine am thrilled to witness the team make it to the Super Bowl for only the second time ever in franchise history. With that being said, and with many of you perhaps recalling my previous blog post on the Seahawks’ fan relations, I’m sure you are wondering about my thoughts in regards to the nail biting NFC Championship game and its post-game events. We all watched as Richard Sherman made an incredible game saving play against Michael Crabtree and I’m sure we all watched as both players were involved in a bit of extra-curricular activities after the play (including Crabtree shoving the face mask of Sherman).
But what EVERYONE remembers best is Sherman’s passionate interview with Erin Andrews. In this blog post, we introduce three crisis management lessons derived directly from the best corner in the NFL, proud member of the legion of boom and a highly intelligent communications graduate of Stanford University: Richard Sherman.
Three Crisis Management Lessons
1. An initial “crisis” may appear to be worse than it actually is: The raw interview provided by Sherman to Andrews was initially very rough and emotional; you could easily see that personally Sherman was very upset. At first glance, many seemed to think that Sherman had appeared to be somewhat thuggish and cocky when in reality, the situation with Crabtree had escalated from previous slander and poor sportsmanship on Crabtree’s part. In crisis management it is essential to keep in mind that you or your fans may or may not have all the facts needed to understand the situation correctly. Take a step back to see the details before you address the situation.
2. Approaching criticism after the fact with a level head will benefit everyone: Following the event, Sherman was personally attacked and labeled as a thug while some ignorant fans even posted extremely offensive racial slurs on various social media channels. Sherman responded to these events and criticisms with grace both in print and in a press conference. While Sherman has the right to have human emotions in relation to the Crabtree event, he handled his comments and questions with a level head, calmly explaining that the situation may not have been exactly what it seems. A huge lesson to learn about crisis management can be seen in the way that Sherman was open to expanding the public’s understanding of the event. Do not hide when crisis hits, approaching any conflict with an open mind and effective plan will aid in quick recovery.
3. An apology goes a long way: In this particular case, Sherman interviewed with CNN and made a public apology, not for his outburst, but for the attention that it has taken away from the team. This is as simple as it comes; if you have done something wrong and you know that it has caused an adverse reaction, consider making a public apology to rectify the situation.
Whether you will be rooting for the Seahawks or cheering on the Broncos, we all have something to learn from the crisis recovery displayed by Richard Sherman this past week. While he may have had a few fans jump off the bandwagon, he had hundreds more jumping on.
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