Schools face crises that would leave many corporate executives reeling. Parents demand answers, staff look for direction, and students are caught in the middle. Brian Cooklin has spent three decades navigating exactly these situations, from Scotland to Mexico, Hong Kong to India. His conclusion is simple but powerful: in a crisis, communication can make or break your leadership.
Be Immediate And Transparent
Nobody has time to script the perfect message when everything is falling apart. That was one of the first lessons Brian Cooklin learned after decades of running schools across different continents. “In a crisis, silence fuels speculation,” he says. “Leaders must respond quickly, with clarity and honesty.” The instinct for many leaders is to wait until all the facts are in. In education, that is a costly mistake. Parents are already imagining worst-case scenarios, and every hour of silence makes it worse. Cooklin’s advice is straightforward: “Share what you know, admit what you don’t, and update frequently.” It sounds simple, but it cuts against the natural urge to hold back until you feel fully prepared. Cooklin saw this lesson tested time and again while overseeing more than a thousand staff and supporting over 30 schools worldwide. The goal was never to have perfect answers on day one. The real measure of leadership was showing the community that problems were being confronted head-on.
Know Your Audience
Here’s where many school leaders stumble: they send the same message to everyone and wonder why it falls flat. Parents, teachers, and students all have different concerns, yet too often they receive identical updates. “Parents want reassurance. Staff want direction. Students need support,” Brian Cooklin says. “Tailor your message to each group.” That lesson became crystal clear during political unrest in Hong Kong. Instead of pushing out one generic update, his team built separate communication streams for each audience. “We created targeted communication to make sure everyone had the right message at the right time,” he recalls. “It made all the difference.”
For Cooklin, the issue goes far deeper than communication tactics. Schools carry a unique responsibility during turbulent times. “In those situations, the school is the safe haven for a child,” he explains. “It’s the place they can go to learn and leave the outside world behind.” That is not a duty any leader can afford to take lightly.
Create A Crisis Communication Plan Before You Need One
Crisis strikes when you least expect it. That is the nature of emergencies. But the schools that manage them well are not simply lucky. They are prepared. “Crisis management is not about improvisation, it’s about preparation,” Brian Cooklin emphasizes. Preparation goes far beyond a list of emergency contacts. Leaders need to know who is responsible for what, how information flows, and how decisions get made under pressure. “Define the roles, set the communication channels, and run simulations,” he advises. For Cooklin, the most effective approach was developing regional playbooks that could be tailored to local realities. “We built regional playbooks to ensure our schools were always one step ahead,” he explains. These were not off-the-shelf templates. They accounted for local laws, cultural nuances, and the specific concerns of parents in each community.
The challenge of crisis leadership is not just logistics. It is the human element. Parents search your expression for signs of panic. Teachers look for confidence. Students sense stress even when you think you are concealing it. “Your colleagues, the parents, the community, and your students are looking for calm, reassurance, and a sense of direction,” Cooklin notes. “And that is your job as a leader.” It is a delicate balance. Leaders must acknowledge that the situation is difficult without amplifying fear. They must provide direction without making promises they cannot keep.
After three decades of managing school crises across multiple countries, Cooklin’s advice distills to one principle: “Crisis will test your leadership, but clear, calm communication can turn chaos into confidence.” In his experience, the schools that endure tough times are not always the ones with the biggest budgets or best facilities. They are the ones where leaders understand that their voice sets the tone for everyone else.
Connect with Brian Cooklin on LinkedIn to explore more insights on crisis leadership.
