When the Worst Happens: Lessons in Crisis Leadership – with Amanda Coleman: PR in the Real World

On the 22^nd of May 2017 – a terrorist committed a suicide bombing at the Manchester Arena. Twenty-two people were killed and over a thousand were injured. Within ten minutes of the attack, Greater Manchester Police’s then head of comms, Amanda Coleman was given the news. Amanda has experience on the front line when it comes to handling messaging under pressure. Her approach is one that was forged in fire. Since then, she’s started a journey as a self-employed consultant – lessons from a seasoned pro like Amanda should be taken onboard by anyone in PR or comms. If you want to be crisis ready, this is must listen.

A Plan Is Not Enough

Having a crisis plan is not the same as being crisis ready. Ticking a box by having a document that few people can put into action or even understand is not going to aid your ability to reclaim the narrative when a crisis comes knocking. Having ammo is useless if you can’t fire the gun. Ensuring clarity, everyone is fully briefed and that responses are quick is essential. But don’t wait for a crisis to land, test run, role-play and find out where your response needs work. Doing this means when a crisis happens its action stations – not ‘who’s job is this?’.

Mental Health and Empathy: A Must – Not a Luxury

A crisis is more than just a spiralling narrative that needs comms attention. It’s tangible and impacts real people on the ground. Empathy needs to be centred in any response, not just within the messaging, but practiced across the board to support victims and comms professionals alike.

One of the biggest pitfalls in crisis comms is over-relying on process and underestimating the human impact. Failing to acknowledge emotional strain can demoralise comms teams at the very moment when getting the messaging right is essential to support any potential victims and provide clarity. Embedding honest empathy in your messaging and across cultures isn’t just the right thing to do – it’s strategic.

All Comms are Crisis Comms

Trust isn’t a fire extinguisher you break out when things go wrong. It’s something built steadily – through openness, consistency, and honest comms that prioritise people. When crisis hits, a driving factor in what your audience decides is your track record long before the incident. Every blog, every tweet, every press release contributes to that pool of trust – or drains it.

Your crisis management starts way before the crisis happens, and long after it’s gone. Be mindful of how your messaging can ripple back in future crisis scenarios. Ensure all messaging is honest and consistent means your pool of trust will be deeper, giving you an easier time reclaiming the narrative moving forward

The Crisis Doesn’t End When the Headlines Move On

A crisis isn’t a fixed entity, it’s fluid and can reappear if not handled properly. There’s always been some truth to this. But in the digital age where media coverage is more sensationalised, and stories live online long after the headlines of the day have become chip paper it has it’s truer than ever. Public tweets from years ago can have ramifications on today’s discourse. Organisations that reflect, adapt, and evolve in the post-crisis phase don’t just recover – they grow stronger. Those that rush to move on could repeat the same mistakes or make the initial crisis linger even longer.

The Information Wars: Are You Ready?

There are many buzzwords thrown around to describe today’s turbulent communications landscape. Post-truth, fake news, infodemic, and weaponised comms all spring to mind. The takeaway for us comms and PR folk here is undeniable: the scope for comms fallouts has vastly increased and our ability to respond is quickly eroding. What’s the solution? Control the controllables.

Whilst it would be great to return better standards to public discourse, you can’t keep the tide back with a broom. PR and comms professionals have an obligation as wardens of information and messaging to remain dutiful and prepared in the face of the challenges ahead. Have a clear-eyed understanding that the job isn’t going to get easier – but you can still deliver good work.

• Crisis plans are meaningless if they’re not understood, tested, and actionable under pressure.
• Embedding empathy in both messaging and team culture is essential for effective, humane crisis comms.
• Trust must be built in advance — every piece of comms either strengthens or weakens your future crisis response.
• A crisis has a long tail — reputations are reshaped in the months and years after, not just in the moment.
• In an age of misinformation, ethical, clear, and proactive comms are your sharpest tools for resilience.