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SALT LAKE CITY — Historically, when people with fame, position or power face crises, they often turn to tactics of denial rather than owning up to their mistakes.
From Bill Clinton to Richard Nixon and Lance Armstrong, as accusations and evidence continued to mount against each party, they tap-danced, sidestepped and right out lied from fear of being kicked into jail, out of office or off the team.
"Every crisis is different. . . There tends to be a lot of fear," said Chris Thomas, owner of the Intrepid Agency in Salt Lake City.
Thomas has advised more than 100 clients who have sought his advice in various crisis situations. He said Governor Chris Christie was smart to quickly address the issue facing him.
After learning of the scandal within his office, Christie took immediate action and apologized, saying he was "embarrassed and humiliated of the conduct of some of the members of my team."
"Timeliness is everything and the action that takes place. The public is pretty forgiving for the most part," Thomas said.
Thomas said the simple strategy in a crisis situation is to get out in front of the issue, answer the hard questions and face the consequences, whether you're in the public eye or dealing with day-to-day issues at home.
"A good strategy is to try to minimize that story. You want a one or two-day story — you don't want something that drags out for weeks or months or years because your credibility erodes," Thomas said. "It's difficult. You wreck the car and you have to tell your spouse that you wrecked the car. That's a challenging thing to have to do, as I know."
Thomas said history has shown that it's difficult to outsmart others, especially in high-profile cases or events. Eventually, the law catches up, and fixing bruised images and reputations is difficult.
"Honesty is the best policy, but it's sometimes a challenge to tell the truth."
