Irecently received a call from the vice president of sales at a publicly traded, multi-billion-dollar corporation headquartered in Houston. He was calling on behalf of the CEO requesting advice on their current public relations strategy and business development efforts.

Before the discovery call, I was given a quick rundown: contracts were slipping, customers were pulling back and the company’s reputation was beginning to erode. It didn’t take long before I knew exactly what was going on. This wasn’t a surface-level messaging issue. It was a full-blown culture crisis and what they needed wasn’t a press release. It was an inside-out strategy.

What I mean by inside-out is simple but critical: Before you spend a dime trying to shape public perception, you must look in the mirror. You must l

See Full Page