Three Emerging Trends to Consider for Crisis Management

Kathy Walter-Mack has served as chief of staff and associate vice chancellor of human resources at Metropolitan Community College since 2009. In this capacity, she acts as spokesperson for the chancellor to media and the public as required. As a key component of that role, Kathy Walter-Mack has become an authority in the realm of crisis management.

Crisis management trends are rapidly shifting. Below are three to watch.

In the past, a scientist with favorable data added an air of credibility to a narrative. Today, scientists more easily find themselves under fire, especially if they are privately funded by closely related industries. In fact, any sort of industry-funded research has almost unilaterally become invalid in the eyes of many. The moral? Vet the scientists whom you look to for support, to ensure their research is above reproach.

On a related note, one of the reasons industry-funded science, in addition to other once-common practices, has come under fire is the rise of the citizen journalist. Prominent bloggers, who aren’t restrained by the impartiality ethics of more traditional media, often seize upon the most innocent association to call an entire crisis narrative into question.

The social media tide is turning. The once hush-hush approach applied to crisis management is slowly shifting to a more humanizing trend in which the people at the center of the crisis maintain an active social media presence. Obviously, there will be some conversation topics that are off limits, but as Martin Shkreli and Charlie Shrem have proved, being vocal on social media can become a valuable tool in the face of a crisis.

Communicating With Young Children and Promoting Literacy Skills

Kathy Walter-Mack is a longtime Kansas City educational administrator who engages with the Metropolitan Community College as associate vice chancellor of human resources and as chief of staff. Kathy Walter-Mack has been involved in her community for a number of years, volunteering with Kansas City Hospice and with Reach Out and Read. Extending nationwide, the latter nonprofit was established at Boston City Hospital in the late 1980s and is a strong advocate of childhood literacy.

A recent Reach Out and Read article focused on the importance of parents taking the initiative and becoming their infant’s first teacher on the road to literacy. The first few years are critical in the development of learning habits that last a lifetime. Significant growth occurs in the baby’s brain in a short space of time, with receptiveness extending to everything seen and heard.

Talking, singing, and reading to the pre-verbal child directly affects the facility with words he or she possesses when entering school. The more the child has been exposed to a variety of words and sounds, the better he or she will be able to adapt and take these skills to the next level: reading with enjoyment and a sense of exploration.