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Nobody's perfect, the boss will make misstatements. Sometimes big, sometimes small. There are only three ways to deal with misstatements.
(1) Do nothing
(2) Retract
(3) Reinforce
If nothing is done, the silence endorses what was said and to the public is communicated that the boss stands by what he said and is satisfied with the reaction and interpretation circulating the airwaves. Yes, all of that just by doing nothing.
If the statement is retracted then great, but the handling of the retraction will discern the sheep from the goat. With retraction, the intent is to press the reset button, not to add fuel to the fire. This means that first you apologize, at the very least for the misunderstanding; then you withdraw (or deny what was said if the law demands), and/or any combination of the above as the circumstances warrant.
Now comes the tricky part. What do you do when you have no choice but to spin the boss out of this mess he got himself into by the slip of the tongue. There is always an escape route. The escape route lies in what I call "the broader we." Almost every discussion can be broadened and almost every person can be expanded.
For example, "I" can become "we." "He" or "she" can become "they."
"You" is a beautifully ambiguous word that can be plural or singular.
In the White House Press Briefing of March 7, 2011, Press Secretary Jay Carney for some reason does not want to say President Obama is an active candidate for the Presidential elections of 2012, but denying it would make him look like a bigger fool. So he smartly refers all "campaign" questions to the campaign office.
Still, a journalist with a point to make can be like a dog with a bone. So at the briefing, a reporter asks Carney, "But how can he go out and say we want to win in 2012? Is he an uncandidate, or what's the status?"
To which Carney replies, "Well, I believe he was there at the event you're referring to, campaigning for Senator Nelson and Democrats in general. So there's a broad 'we' there."
Broaden the discussion, broaden the group, find the broader we and the bail out will be staring you in the face if there is one. Semantics will only get you so far and will only work with a minor issue.
Therefore there will not always be a way out. There will be times the only way to press the reset button is to give a little. Show that you are human and make mistakes too.
Before taking any action, ask yourself, "What would it take to press the reset button?" Then and only then, start to plan. Saying sorry does not mean you lose and most of the time it does not cost a cent. Keep your eyes on the goal. Once you are able to reset the relationship, you win.
Aleem Khan is a Director of Corporate Communications (1999) Limited. He is a former communications advisor to two Government Ministers and an ACS Secretary General. A journalist by profession, he writes at http://www.news.co.tt/
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