Above all else, be credible. Are you listening Chicago Blackhawks?

There's a certain type of PR hack that drags down the whole profession. It's the flack that tries to spin something beyond the realm of credibility. In the process they leave a trail of disbelief, skeptics and second guesses at what is actually going on in the organization.

Case in point - the Chicago Blackhawks fired their GM, Dale Tallon, today and put in place his subbordinate, Stan Bowman - son of hockey great Scotty Bowman. But the release announcing the change is frankly, BS. It says:

The Chicago Blackhawks have promoted Stan Bowman to General Manager and have reassigned Dale Tallon to the position of Senior Advisor, Hockey Operations.

This kind of thinly-veiled attempt to disguise what's going on helps no one. Worse yet, the release has a humiliating 'quote' from Tallon:

“In my new role as Senior Advisor, Hockey Operations I will continue in any way that will help make this a better product on the ice. I’ve seen Stan come up through our ranks and I’m confident he is the right person to step in. This is what is best for the Chicago Blackhawks.”

Who in their right mind would believe Tallon actually said this? And its the height of poor taste to belittle a guy you've fired by making it look like he agrees that it's the best decision. Nobody will buy this. I don't care how crappy someone is at their job, who's going to stand up and agree they should be fired?

I can just imagine the team's communications department hunkered down trying to find a way to manage this issue. However, the course they chose didn't solve the problem. It only magnifies the rift that must be going on behind the scenes. Rather than deal with the issue and allow the team to move on, they've only invited more questions. And you're guaranteeing future skepticism from journalists and your stakeholders in the future.

The reality is people get fired. Things sometimes don't work out. The best way to deal with these situations is to just be up front and clear about the situation. Lay out the facts and explain where you're going. In this way you'll actually manage the issue down and allow the organization to move on.