Issue link: https://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/655792
34 FEDA News & Views account- ability for your actions, be honest and sincere in your response, and out- side of heinous crimes, just about everyone will give you a second chance. Thus, I've watched with fascination as a multibillion- dollar organization with mul- timillionaire brand representa- tives—all counseled by expert advisers and image consultants— screw this up. While individuals with- in this organization have given us many examples of personal brand/reputation destruction during the past year, there was one truly non-story that quickly became THE story because no one fol- lowed the process. Imagine what "Deflate Gate" could have been… STEP 1 APOLOGIZE "As you know, the NFL League Office is investigating allegations that the foot- balls we used in yesterday's game had been tampered with, specifically that the footballs were underinflated, or had less air than mandated by league rules. First off, let me apologize to my team- mates, coaches, front office, owners, New England Patriots fans, and football fans everywhere. This is a completely unnecessary distraction and it takes away from my teammates' exceptional I n my Know More! Reputations pro- gram, I teach a simple process for responding to a negative review or criticism of any kind. While my training focuses on the impact to a person's online brand and reputation when responding inappropriately via a digital medium where all comments could become digitally permanent, the process also works in any for- mat. Whether you're responding to critics online, on paper, over the phone, or face-to-face, here's a simple five-step process that will keep the story from getting out of hand and potentially damaging your personal brand: 1. Apologize. 2. State the facts. 3. Apologize again. 4. Let the person know what you're going to do about the situation. 5. Take personal responsibility for ensuring it happens. This process has helped me transform temporarily angry customers into long- term advocates. It's helped me in rela- tionships with bosses, colleagues, and suppliers. Heck…it's probably saved my marriage. We all make mistakes. We all do dumb things. Some mistakes are an accident, and some dumb things are done inten- tionally. Don't try and gloss over or excuse your misdeed because the cover-up is almost always worse than the crime. Take What if Tom Brady had Just Followed the Process? By Sam Richter sam@sbrworldwide.com Crisis Control is Easy If You Implement these 5 Steps performance in yesterday's game." STEP 2 STATE THE FACTS "I, just like most quarterbacks in the NFL, prefer that a football has a certain feel to it. Prior to each game, we have the opportunity to review the footballs that our offense will use. During yester- day's pre-game, the footballs felt a bit over-inflated to me and so I asked the equipment managers to see if they could check and then get the footballs to the level I like at the bottom end of what is permissible. Like probably most of you, I just learned that NFL rules state that footballs need to be inflated in the 12.5 to 13.5 PSI range. I have no clue what the PSI is of the footballs that I like to throw. I can just tell by the touch if they are comfortable or not and I assume that officials check the footballs and that whatever we use is within the range. I've heard theories that the cold weather yesterday may have also played a role. I have no idea, yet I suppose it's possible that after our guys let some of the air out of the footballs that the cold pushed the PSI below the 12.5 range. I do know this, however. We won the game 45 to 7 and I guess in the second half the footballs were at full inflation on the high end of the range, so it really didn't make a difference either way." STEP 3 APOLOGIZE AGAIN "Now, I want to be clear, what I just stated is an explanation and not an