Communication Lessons from the Celtic AGM
from Powerful Communication Podcast
Colin Kelly from the powerful communication podcast from Comteria examines the significant lessons available following the disruptive Celtic Annual General Meeting (AGM). The meeting was closed after continuous protest and disruption, including shouting, booing, and showing red cards, preventing shareholders from asking questions in the open format. The episode argues that Celtic PLC should have anticipated the protests, given prior fan statements and protests at games, knowing that many unhappy protestors were also shareholders. A key communication failure was placing Chairman Peter Lawwell in the weak position of appealing directly to shareholders to behave. Kelly advocates for having an independent, good communicator host the proceedings, representing the venue rather than the PLC, to handle enforcement of rules—a tactic mirrored by venue security procedures often used in situations like WWE wrestling events. Furthermore, the episode critiques the decision of a major majority shareholder to send his son to read a pre-prepared statement that used "tough language" about behavior and disruption, arguing that this was asking for trouble, especially since the shareholder was not prepared to face the people being referenced. Based on the events, Kelly states he would be very surprised if Peter Lawwell remains in post.
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