Crisis managers must have thick skins. They make decisions that WILL be second-guessed by many.
Because most people—even their colleagues—will not be privy to what the rejected options were, the option they chose will look like a bad choice. Chances are that it was. The problem was that the others were worse. That is often what makes a crisis a crisis—you are faced with a range of undesirable options, yet you must decide and move forward, often into the public spotlight.
If you want to see what brutal second-guessing looks like, watch the movie Sully. It depicts the National Transportation Safety Board challenging Sully’s decision to land a plane full of people in the Hudson River.
Curiously, the movie triggered a second crisis because of its negative portrayal of the NTSB.
I once shared a spot on a crisis management program with Captain Sullenberger. What a great man in many, many ways.