Remember where you are Bob!

Whoever was advising Bob Diamond, the Barclays Chief Executive as he was marched in front of the Parliamentary Select Committee on Wednesday, clearly wasn’t from these shores. The decision to recommend he refer to everyone on the committee by their first names was a complete no no.

We just don’t do over familiarity here in the UK when it comes to formal proceedings. Nothing irritates the great British public more than someone trying to schmooze his or her way out of a sticky situation by being over friendly. It just doesn’t work.

He may have been used to being on first name terms with the great and the good in the US, but the rules are very different over here. It’s a cultural thing.

The French and the Germans have it much easier by having a polite “you” in their language and a friendly “you” so you know exactly where you stand. However no such useful term exists in our lingo.

It was the same with Tony Hayward, the Chief Executive of BP during the oil spill in the US in 2010. When he said, “ I just want my life back!”. The American public took great offence at what seemed a very selfish statement. But over here, on the other side of the Atlantic, we had some (very limited) sympathy with the guy. I’m not saying that Mr Hayward did himself any favours with this statement but in the UK there wasn’t the same level of media revolt that happened in the US. Again, it’s all about knowing your audience.

If Bob Diamond was trying to connect with the eminent members of parliament in the room and the viewers at home it was a complete own goal. When you know you’re going to have to reach for that crisis management folder, there are some golden rules to remember. If you’re being interviewed on TV or radio don’t respond to the journalists initial question with – “well John in answer to your question blah, blah, blah”, it sounds really odd, far too chummy and will disengage your audience completely. To get the right message across you have to show genuine concern, and compassion. You have to demonstrate that you are humbled by the experience and that you have a plan of action moving forward.  Otherwise you are in danger of appearing arrogant and disconnected from the problem. Bob did manage to apologise but he wasn’t believable and so the message was lost. Take note Mr. Robert Diamond Esquire, and next time maybe get in touch with us before hand!

So what did you think about the Tony Hayward and Bob Diamond debacles? We’d love to hear your points so hit comment below and type away!

Sharon

PS - If you think any of our journalist tutors can help you with your next crisis click here.