When a crisis hits, most organizations instinctively retreat inward.
Conference rooms fill up and hours are spent searching for language that is both accurate and risk-free, while customers, employees, investors, and the media are already forming opinions in real time.
I’ve watched it happen more times than I can count.
The irony is that the more people involved in writing the statement, the less it usually sounds like the company. Personality gets edited out and confidence gives way to caution. By the time the message is published, it may be legally sound, but it rarely feels human.
That’s why Taco Bell CEO Sean Tresvant’s recent LinkedIn post following the company’s recent public health issues tied to tainted lettuce stood out to me.
He acknowledged the seriousness of the situation while reinforcing the company’s commitment to food safety. Most importantly, he sounded like a leader talking to people, not an organization hiding behind carefully polished corporate language.
No crisis communication is perfect, and time will ultimately determine how consumers remember this event. But as someone who has spent two decades helping executives communicate during defining moments, I thought this post offered several reminders that every leadership team should keep in mind before their own difficult day arrives.
Lesson 1: He spoke to a relationship before he addressed the crisis.
The very first words caught my attention.
“To every Taco Bell fan…”
Words matter, especially in moments when trust is being tested. Calling someone a customer frames the relationship as transactional. Calling someone a fan acknowledges something much deeper.
Taco Bell has spent decades becoming part of American culture. People remember grabbing tacos after football games, college classes, concerts, road trips, or late-night shifts at work. The brand has been the subject of countless jokes over the years, many of which Taco Bell has simply embraced rather than fought. Whether someone visits once a week or once a month, there’s often an emotional connection that goes beyond what’s on the menu.
Tresvant recognized that immediately.
Before discussing investigations, suppliers, or food safety protocols, he reminded readers that this was a relationship worth protecting.
That’s an important distinction because crisis communication requires reassuring people who already have an emotional investment in your organization.
Lesson 2: He didn’t abandon the brand’s personality.
One of the biggest mistakes companies make during a crisis is suddenly sounding like a completely different organization.
Brands spend years building a recognizable voice, only to replace it with sterile legal language the moment something goes wrong. Customers notice that disconnect immediately.
Taco Bell has never presented itself as a stiff, overly corporate brand. It’s playful, approachable, and has always understood its place in pop culture, even when that includes being the punchline of a few jokes.
That self-awareness matters, and some brands are simply better at knowing themselves than others.
One of my favorite examples remains KFC’s response after running out of chicken across the United Kingdom in 2018. Rather than publishing a long explanation filled with operational details, the company ran its now-famous “FCK” advertisement. It was funny, self-aware, and authentic to the brand people already knew. Customers appreciated that KFC understood how ridiculous the situation looked and wasn’t pretending otherwise.
Taco Bell’s response wasn’t humorous, nor should it have been given the circumstances. But it remained recognizable. The tone reflected the company people already knew instead of introducing a completely different personality simply because the headlines had turned negative.
That’s harder than it sounds.
Lesson 3: The CEO sounded like a leader, not a spokesperson.
One sentence stayed with me long after I finished reading the post.
“We aren’t entitled to your loyalty. We earn it one meal at a time.”
That’s a leadership statement.
It acknowledges something every executive should remember: Trust isn’t permanent. Customers choose to give it to you, and they can just as easily take it away.
Too often, companies become so focused on defending themselves that they forget why people are upset in the first place. The conversation shifts toward process instead of people.
United Airlines learned this lesson the hard way after the passenger removal incident in 2017. The company’s initial response emphasized policies and procedures while millions of people were reacting emotionally to what they had watched unfold. By the time the messaging became more empathetic, much of the damage had already been done.
Facts, accuracy, and legal reviews matter. Of course they do.
But empathy has to make it through the editing process, too.
People don’t expect leaders to have every answer within the first few hours of a crisis, but they do expect them to sound like they understand why people are concerned.
Tresvant accomplished that without overpromising or becoming defensive, which is a difficult balance to strike.
Lesson 4: He showed up.
Perhaps the simplest lesson is also the easiest to overlook.
He didn’t disappear.
In many organizations, the safest recommendation during a crisis is for leadership to stay quiet until every fact has been confirmed. There are certainly situations where restraint is appropriate. But I’ve also seen companies wait so long to engage that they effectively surrender the conversation to everyone else.
Social media doesn’t pause while executives deliberate and news cycles don’t slow down because another meeting has been scheduled.
People continue asking questions whether leadership participates or not.
Visibility has become one of the most underappreciated leadership skills in modern business. Employees expect it, customers appreciate it, and journalists notice it.
Most importantly, trust grows when people consistently see the same leader during both good news and bad.
The bigger lesson
What impressed me most about Sean Tresvant’s LinkedIn post was what the post represented.
This was a CEO drawing on trust that had been built long before the crisis arrived.
That’s something many organizations overlook.
Crisis communications begins before the crisis hits. It starts months and years earlier through every interview, every employee meeting, every customer interaction, every social media post, and every decision a leadership team makes about whether to be visible or invisible.
By the time something goes wrong, you’re no longer building your reputation.
You’re relying on it.
That’s why every CEO should pay attention to Taco Bell’s response.
Not because it offers a perfect template. Every crisis is different, and no single statement fits every situation.
But because it serves as a reminder that the strongest crisis communications rarely feel manufactured. They feel like a leader speaking honestly to people who already know who they are.
And in an era when trust can disappear in a matter of hours, that may be the most valuable asset any brand has.