ICM Mission Statement
What We Do
The Institute for Crisis Management delivers professional expertise in crisis preparedness and management, mitigation, reputation management and crisis communications. We partner with our clients to deliver planning, training and consulting services rooted in our core values.
Why We Do it
Our goals are simple: We are here to help people and their organizations to plan and prepare for crises or to manage them when they occur. We offer counsel rooted in decades of experience as crisis management and communications professionals in numerous industries. We’ve “been there, done that” and use our skills to help clients successfully navigate difficult organizational challenges. Our credo: “prepare and prevent or repair and repent.”
How We Do it
Our Core Values are honesty, transparency, and empathy.
ICM and its team of senior consultants are committed to the ethical practice of professional communications.
In addition to the professional standards we uphold as members of professional associations such as PRSA and IABC, each of us has made a written commitment to honesty and ethical practices that stand as the cornerstone of everything we do. These commitments include:
- Truthful, honest actions that earn our clients’ respect and trust.
- Acting as a responsible advocate for our clients, always acting in their best interests and subordinating personal interests.
- Vigilantly protecting privileged, confidential and insider information always, while acting within the law.
- Following all applicable laws, regulations and public policies.
- Never using confidential information for personal gain.
- Giving proper credit to the work of others, citing sources, respecting intellectual property rights and acknowledging the contributions of others.
- Not representing conflicting or competing interests without complete disclosure and the written consent of all those involved.
- Taking responsibility for our actions.
ICM does not represent clients or organizations that would require any one of us to violate the ethical requirements of these standards of conduct.
We believe that transparency is critical to the success of crisis communications strategies. In a world where information (and misinformation) can “go viral” in minutes, being anything less sows distrust among the stakeholders upon whose confidence our clients deeply rely.
We believe that empathy is an expression of our shared humanity that is a fundamental building block of trust. As the saying goes, people don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.
Deborah Hileman, SCMP
ICM President and CEO
CEO Expertise for Every Client
Deborah Hileman, SCMP, President and CEO. A globally-certified strategic communication management professional (SCMP), business leader, coach and consultant with more than 35 years’ experience in public and private companies and non-profit organizations, Ms. Hileman has led high-performing teams in health care, manufacturing, insurance and financial services, nonprofits and higher education. Her most significant areas of expertise include strategic communications planning, reputation and crisis management, change management, employee engagement, media relations and communication training.
