Even though we’re posting this on Friday the 13th, here’s one fact that we’re never superstitious to share:
In every crisis our team has worked on over the last two decades, one truth shows up without fail: most people are not at the extremes on the issue causing the crisis.
In any crisis there will always be a group that supports you no matter what, and another that never will. But crises are decided in the middle, by employees, customers, regulators, community members, and partners who are still making up their minds. And when something goes wrong, they aren’t carefully analyzing facts. They’re asking a much simpler question:
What kind of organization is this, really?
That question is answered not in the moment of crisis, but long before that crisis ever occurs. That’s where your Capital S Story comes in.
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What is your Capital S Story?
We define the Capital S Story as the story above all others that your organization shares, the one that explains why someone would buy from you, work for you, invest in you, partner with you, or in a crisis, trust you. It isn’t a slogan or a campaign. It’s the lived, demonstrated story that defines the very character and nature of your organization. And in a crisis, your Capital S Story becomes your most valuable asset.
Why is your Capital S Story so valuable?
When a crisis hits, time collapses. Information moves faster than context. Social media accelerates judgment. Neuroscience tells us that under stress, people rely on shortcuts, stories, archetypes, prior beliefs, not rational deliberation. As we often say, there’s no such thing as a vacuum in a crisis. If you don’t define your story proactively, your opponents will happily define it for you. And their definitions will be unforgiving.
This is also why fear-based communication is such a trap. Fear can motivate in the short term, but it has a very short shelf life. Over time, it erodes trust, increases cynicism, and ultimately turns people away, even those who once listened. We’ve seen this dynamic play out repeatedly in public discourse, including around COVID a few years ago and even today around highly charged political issues.
Fear activates fight-or-flight responses, but it’s trust that sustains belief. Trust, in turn, is built by moving hearts and minds toward shared ground, not by pushing them to extremes.
That’s what the political consultant Michael Maslansky refers to as the language of trust, which he expanded upon in his book by that name.
The language of trust is about acknowledging concerns, focusing on common values, and framing issues in ways that allow people in the middle to say, I see myself here. In a crisis, that language only works if it’s consistent with the story your stakeholders already believe about you.
Employees play a critical role here. They are your most credible ambassadors, or your most damaging critics. If your internal story doesn’t match your external one, that disconnect will surface quickly, and it will undermine everything you say publicly, most likely on social media.
When should you figure out your Capital S Story?
The hard truth is this: the worst time to figure out your story is in the middle of a crisis. Crisis communication is high-stakes work. Get it wrong, and reputations, sometimes entire organization, don’t recover. That’s why we often describe this as reputational insurance. You wouldn’t run a business without insurance coverage. Your story deserves the same level of preparation before you’re forced into crisis communication.
Is your organization crisis-ready?
If you want to know whether your organization is truly crisis-ready, start by asking whether your Capital S Story is clear, credible, and consistently lived, before you need it.
That’s exactly what our crisis readiness self assessment is designed to uncover. Interested in learning whether your organization is crisis ready? Click here to find out.
