By James Fitzpatrick
Every word Turnbull has spoken since he announced that he would challenge Abbott for the Liberal leadership last week has rolled off his tongue so eloquently that it reminds me of a flawlessly choreographed dance where every move has been rehearsed tirelessly.
Unfortunately for Turnbull, this alleged fascination with mirrors is also one of his most frequent critiques:
Irrespective of what you think the real motive behind Turnbull’s mirror rehearsing to be, the result is the same. Turnbull had to give two critical addresses to the media last week; one announcing the challenge, and the other his subsequent victory speech. Both were delivered with such precision, conviction, charisma, and perceived rationalism that the public, whom had grown used to the polar opposite, welcomed them with open arms.
The subsequent poll results spoke for themselves with Turnbull bolstering an immediate and commanding lead against Shorten with a 70% to 24% (6% other) polling as preferred PM (Roy Morgan 2015).
What can we take from this? Preparation is key.
Regardless of the overwhelming discontent for Abbott’s leadership, a leadership spill was never going to be overly pretty and had the real potential to go horribly wrong – particularly when the Liberal party had flogged the Rudd vs. Gillard ‘killing season’ as a key campaigning point at the last election.
The clear strategy and thorough preparation put into the spill by Turnbull and his team is evident in the seamlessness to which it was carried out. Despite the relatively tight final ballot, Turnbull’s subsequent speeches and actions (including the announcement of an overhauled cabinet) have been executed with precision and conviction as well as a long and overdue breath of optimism, aspiration, and inspiration.
Prior planning and preparation is critical to the success of any strategy – whether that be preparing for a critical incident or a particular business campaign.
Planning and preparation are two key elements of the Briggs Communications methodology – particularly in crisis management.
To learn more about that methodology or the services that we provide that can help you or your business to plan and prepare for any strategy or incident, click here.