Be Strong Lance
Posted by Jody Donohue, APR is president of the Greater Kansas City Public Relations Society. Follow her on Twitter @jody_donohue. on Jan. 16, 2013 / Subscribe 0
Lance Armstrong didn’t call me to help him prepare for his interview with Oprah, but here’s what I would have told him if he did.
Lance, this is either the best or worst move of your life.
You’ve broken every law of effective crisis management. If Oprah forgives you, you have a start toward winning the hearts and minds of your former fans. But there is huge downside potential if you aren’t in the correct frame of mind to move forward with this after Oprah’s interviews air.
I suspect you know by now that your brand as you knew it is dead and gone. What’s more dead than dead? Your brand if you don’t come clean in every way.
When you’ve been tried and convicted in the court of public opinion as you have, it doesn’t really matter anymore what the truth is. Your behavior up until scheduling this interview says you don’t care or maybe even don’t realize that’s the case.
Jim Lukazewski, a PR advisor who I really admire, lists a few actions that he calls the “Profile in Failure.”
1. Denial
2. Victim Confusion
3. Testosterosis
4. Arrogance
5. Search for the Guilty
6. Fear of the Exposure
7. Management by Whining Around
I would say you’ve done a couple of things on that list. Maybe a couple more than a couple. So please don’t even go there during your interviews. I know it will be tempting in the days ahead to deny, blame, become the victim and whine that your attorneys won’t let you say what you really want…. But you can’t get away with any of that.
You have to show us that you won’t do it again and that you’re begging for our mercy and forgiveness. If you hand seven jerseys to Oprah, that would be a really good start.
I am glad to hear that you’re reaching out to make apologies to your former teammates. Take it a step farther and personally and publically apologize to everyone you’ve ever spoke ill of because they were exposing you in some way.
If you agree to interviews with some of your most vocal critics from the past decade that would be a good next step. I’m talking about every author and sports commentator you’ve said nasty things about over the years. Some will want their pound of flesh. Some will not, but you need to offer it up.
You have to be confident, but humble in the days ahead. Can the guy who tweeted the picture of himself on the couch surrounded by the yellow jerseys shortly after you were stripped of the titles even do that? You have to be genuine and somehow convey that you are ethical when we believe that you are not. How are you going to do that? (Remember my comment about the jerseys. Maybe hand over some medals and trophies or anything you’ve been given by anyone honoring your accomplishments.
I know the lawsuits are coming too. Be a stand up guy. Start the conversation with your former sponsors about how you make it right. You’ve already lost on that front. The attorneys are going to try to convince you to hang on to as much as you can. The more you give back now, the more quickly people will return to doing business in the future.)
If you can’t be candid, transparent and show you’re going to respect where you’re at with the U.S. Anti Doping Agency, you’re back in the dead zone.
Are you ready to do all of that? If you are, it doesn’t end there; you have to devote a huge amount of time to fix the system, expose everything so the authorities can catch rule-breakers, and then convince a whole bunch of amateur and professional athletes why they shouldn’t dope. It’s going to take years if you hope to regain some level of stature and a positive legacy.
And you’re going to have to be OK with it if your foundation goes through a name change and rebranding effort that doesn’t include you. Only time will tell if you can be associated with that in the future. Because of the good work Livestrong has done in the past, I hope the foundation doesn’t suffer more than it already has.
But it will. The break with Sporting KC is just the first. I’m certain there are others who will distance themselves in upcoming days. Have I mentioned things are going to get much worse before they get better?
We’ve forgiven Martha, Bill, A-Rod, Britney and even Tiger is sort of getting there, although he screwed it up in the beginning. It’s not going to come easy for you. It’s not going to come fast. I don’t see you as a patient guy, but if you can channel your energy and focus on the goal just like you did when training, then you have a chance.
You have a lot already in your favor that many in crisis do not. You’re cute. You’re charming. You’re a survivor. You’ve been an inspiration on so many levels, but screw this up and you might not ever get a chance for another come back.
Fighting cancer has to be way worse than fighting a PR battle. I know you’ve got it in you. I would never tell you that this will be more difficult than going through that. But it’s going to be a fight.
I hope you’re strong enough.
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