Crisis Avoidance Strategy: Neighbour of Choice

By Garth Rowan, Communications Consultant and member of the Agnes + Day Crisis Intelligence Team.

When you can’t change who you are or what you do; when your business is the type that no one wants; what are your options to build up credit in the trust bank should a crisis strike? Let’s face it, a crisis is when you’ll need the benefit of the doubt and the community’s conviction that something bad just happened to generally good people (you being the “good people” hopefully).

Clearly, you should do all in your power to mitigate the extent to which you affect the community. But what if even your best efforts don’t come close? You may be manufacturing some chemical which, if not contained could wipe out half the countryside, or perhaps you have the word “nuclear” as part of your title. Even the once mundane pipeline is under siege nowadays. Maybe you’re simply noisy, smelly or ugly! When what the neighbours want is you gone, even on a good day, imagine what it’s going to be like in a crisis.

What if you changed the relationship to one where instead of being treated as the local delinquent, you were loved and respected and even welcomed in the community? Impossible you say? It comes back to satisfying interests. The community may never love what you do but they can learn to love you, because if you make an effort, having you around could outweigh the downside of what you do. “Neighbour of choice” is about working hard to be the best team player in your area, the one everyone can rely on who adds major value to a community.

How can you become the neighbour of choice?

Meeting people’s interests is effective because it’s to everyone’s advantage. Consider the oil company using snow ploughs for their well sites who then also plough for surrounding residents. The cost pales compared to the goodwill generated. Car broken down at the side of the road? Make it a policy that workers who see it have to stop and give help.

The rule is simple: Ask yourself where you can improve the lives of your neighbours by lending a hand. Your good turn may well inspire another. One progressive company even used their own fire fighting team to put out a fire in a neighbour’s barn, rather than letting them wait for the fire department to arrive from 20km away. How about part time jobs for local teens coupled with safety courses? Coaching local sports teams is always appreciated. All these ideas help to make you the neighbour of choice and will build your social equity should the dark days of crisis ever come.