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Don’t talk, just listen 

Whether or not a company makes a statement, listening is the most important part of its response, according to William Ury, author of the classic book about negotiations, Getting To Yes. 

“Something tragic happens, something violent happens, and people have emotions, naturally,” says Ury. “The most important thing you can do is listen and show respect to any sentiments that are coming up.” 

He recommends creating a forum for employees to talk, and suggests that CEOs and managers sit down with them to hear what they have to say, reflecting back what they’re hearing. 

“The impulse is to think ‘I’m the leader, I have to say something,’ but really what a leader does is they listen first,” he says. 

Even in the midst of a conflict, listening often dissipates emotion, and makes employees feel respected. “They want to feel heard, they want to feel seen,” he says. “And they don’t want to feel they might be attacked.”

Should a leader step into the conversation after hearing from workers, they ought to take what Ury calls “the third side.” This means sticking up for the “side of the whole community, the side of America, the side of everyone in the workplace community,” he says. In this case, taking the third side would mean taking a stand against violence, as several business leaders have already done. 

“Leaders can stand up for the democratic system, which actually permits businesses to succeed. It’s our structure. It’s the structure of freedoms that allows us to have a free market,” he says.