Reputation Gurus

On Sunday, October 7, nearly 36,000 people ran the Chicago Marathon, despite record temperatures.  By noon, the race was suspended, one runner was dead, thousands were overheated and tens of thousands were dehydrated because the race ran out of drinking water.  On Monday, runners were waiting for an apology.  They’re still waiting.  Race organizers, apparently concerned about reputations and a backlash that might harm
Chicago’s bid for the 2016 Olympics, broke a basic rule of crisis communications:  They failed to acknowledge a problem.  They blamed hot temperatures everyone had predicted for several days before the race.  And they blamed runners who prepared for months to run the race.   Executives who hide their heads in the sand during crises also bury their companies’ reputations.  Unless they get it right fast, the Chicago Marathon’s executives will learn that lesson painfully.