Reputation Evangelist's blog

Attention Kmart Shoppers - 6 Tips On When To Pull The Plug

I completely understand that business objectives drive executive behavior.  Got it.  Check the box. 

 

But what I’ll never understand is why some executives believe that they can use the ‘smoke and mirrors’ technique to hide (or side step) the truth and in the end not damage their reputations.

 

Charlotte Motor Speedway has hosted an annual Media Tour for the past 20-plus years.  The premise of the tour has been two fold: 1. Give motorsports media members the opportunity to gather pre-season stories, 2. Since 98% of NASCAR race teams are in the Charlotte area, give them a platform for team and sponsor announcements.

 

It’s a great vehicle for both groups and at its height, before media outlets began slashing their staff and budgets, there would be more than 300 media members piling into numerous tour busses for the four-day event.

 

One particular year, my partners Rodrick and Doug Cox and I had been hired by NASCAR team owner Travis Carter to manage the Public Relations for his two-car Sprint Cup Series team.  Most multi-car teams have individual primary sponsors for their cars, but in this particular situation, Travis had one sponsor for both of his cars – Kmart.

 

Kmart was not new to motorsports.  In fact, the discount retailer had sponsored Mario Andretti in Indy Car, at one time had its own race - the Kmart 400 at Michigan Speedway - was once the Official Retailer of the Daytona 500 and sponsored teams in NASCAR.  So the fact that the brand was the primary sponsor on two cars was not a surprise.  Actually, it was unique and seen as a bold and committed move considering the costs of sponsoring just one car.

 

In mid-December, Travis was telling us that Kmart had a new customer loyalty school program that they were going to launch and wanted to use the NASCAR platform as a way to build awareness.  At that time, driver Jimmy Spencer had left the team and had been replaced by Joe Nemechek.  We decided to use the Media Tour as our platform to deliver the corporate message and introduce the new Kmart team of drivers Todd Bodine and Nemechek.  It was the perfect scenario to kick off the season and build the pre-Daytona buzz.  I worked out the details with the Media Tour organizers and we were locked in for a ‘lunch stop’ on January 22.

 

We had less than a month to get the press stop organized so preparations quickly began: meeting with the sponsor brand team to determine their message points, writing speaking points for the emcee, team owners and drivers, putting press kits together, preparing and reviewing the Q&A points, designing the stage and positioning of the cars, organizing the photo op list, ordering food and media gifts, etc., etc., etc.

 

Roughly two weeks prior to the announcement, the signs of Kmart’s financial troubles were really making news and making all of us on the team and agency side very nervous.  We spoke with our brand contacts and they assured us that it was ‘business as usual,’ the commitment to the NASCAR program was in tact and there were big announcements to be made.

 

I recall offering up the suggestion of changing course with the announcement several times as the news volume began to increase.  We could still make the school program announcement they wanted, but perhaps this wasn’t the venue.  Maybe we wait until Daytona and let things settle down a little bit in the media?  Maybe we just go the route of an old-school press release announcing the school program?  My immediate concern was that the core messaging for the press event would be completely upstaged and the brand’s credibility eroded with a ‘commitment to the sport’ message if the bankruptcy rumors we had all been hearing became a reality.

 

I got the same response and we continued down the path.

 

The core team – brand contact, drivers, Travis, Rodrick, Doug and myself – all met the night before the announcement to go through the Run of Show, review the talking points, discuss the Q&A and walk through the staging and photo ops.  For us, it was business as usual.  However, that changed when the brand manager told us that there was going to be a big announcement tomorrow from corporate.  We asked what it was and if it was good news or bad news.  He said it looked as though the company was going to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

 

My stomach dropped and I took him aside and said that we really don’t need to compete with that news tomorrow.  We can call it off and not put ourselves in the media cross-hairs.  We are moving ahead and staying the course, was the answer I heard.  I reminded him that he would be the one at the podium taking the questions about support of the your teams and bankruptcy and no one is going to ask a single question about your school program.  This would do more harm than good.  Didn’t matter.  He rationalized to me that by making the announcement about the school program, it would prove that the company was still moving forward in the face of the financial situation. 

 

While I can understand that, I also told him that it would specifically call into question Kmart’s team sponsorship commitment, put him in the line of media fire that he may be prepared for, but our team owner and drivers aren’t.  Oh, and the fact that we are announcing this on the day that the company files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection doesn’t make us look very smart.  I was told this wouldn’t be on the motorsports media radar and that the bankruptcy filing was just a procedure.

 

January 22 was here and the media tour busses began pulling into the team’s parking lot.  Our group had already read some of the business and financial headlines reporting on Kmart’s filing.  Have you ever felt like you were either leading a lamb to slaughter, OR that you were in the flock about to be slaughtered?? That’s about how I felt that morning.

 

I’ll fast forward to the point when our brand contact, who was given 15 minutes to make the school program announcement, passed the 35 minute mark and finally opened the floor for questions.  Rule No. 1 for press events with food – don’t go over your time allotment because you are now standing between a hungry press corps and their lunch!

 

The first question that came up was not about the school program.  Can you believe that?? It was directly about, wait for it … you got it: was Kmart going to still support its NASCAR team sponsorship given the bankruptcy protection filing?

 

Silence.  Then a feeble response about business as usual and we are committed to Travis and the teams.  And after that, there were a few questions to the drivers and team owners from the emcee (that we planted with him), but no other questions from the media.  They were done and hungry.

 

Once the smoke cleared and the mirrors put away, Kmart only sponsored the teams through the second race of a season that had 30+ on the schedule citing that under the terms of the bankruptcy filing they had to trim all ancillary spending.

 

At that point, Travis and his teams had their own ‘blue light special’ to promote: “Attention potential sponsors, there’s a blue light special in the motorsports department on primary sponsorships for the Nos. 26 and 66 Fords.”   

 

The team scrambled to piece together small sponsorships for the balance of the season and, sadly, this marked the beginning of the end of Travis’s multi-car organization.

 

So what can we learn from this? I offer the tips below as thought starters for you as you assess future press events, corporate presentations or other public displays … what else would you add?

 

Six tips for knowing when it may be time to ‘Pull the Plug’:

1. When you find yourself or hear someone rationalizing why you should proceed rather than recognizing the reality of the situation.

2. When transparency takes a back seat to smoke and mirrors, which becomes the primary message vehicle.

3. When you realize that the true message that you want to deliver will be overshadowed.

4. When you determine that your spokesperson will become a news target rather than a news source.

5. When your agency partners (charged with looking out for your best intentions) are pointing out that this isn’t the best course of action.

6. When it appears that ego is beating out wisdom.

 

"She'll Go 350 ..."

Last Friday I saw four NHRA Top Fuel dragsters race four-wide down the Zmax Dragstrip across the street from Charlotte Motor Speedway.  The traditional two-car, side-by-side racing that has taken place since the 1950s is now at the next level and I have to say that it is awesome!

 

If you ever get the opportunity to go to a professionally sanctioned drag race, I have one word for you – GO!  Plus, you never know who you will run into … I was at an NHRA race in Las Vegas and literally walked into Tommy Lee, which was VERY, VERY cool for me since I spent a lot of time behind the drums as a kid playing to his beats.

 

Watching race cars with 6,000 horsepower reach speeds over 300 mph in less than a quarter of a mile is an experience you won’t soon forget.  The sight, the sounds, feeling the earth and all of your internal organs shake is something you will have a hard time putting into words.  So, here’s the ‘did you know’ moment for the race fans reading this: each engine cylinder in an NHRA Top Fuel car has the same amount of horsepower as one NASCAR Sprint Cup engine.

 

Let's get to the good stuff ... I had a client that was an Official Partner of the NHRA and sponsored three cars in the top-two pro categories – Top Fuel and Funny Car.  Now, one of the Funny Car drivers had been around the sport for a long time and was gruff, intimidating and always said what was on his mind – it didn’t matter where he was, what he said or to whom he was speaking.   He had this odd ‘fire and forget’ mechanism in his brain … you know what I mean?  

 

So one night we were at an autograph session and there were thousands of fans lined up to meet the various drivers, have their pictures taken (or as I’ve come to learn living in the South, ‘have their pictures made’) and have merchandise signed.  The event was running smoothly, the drivers and fans were having a great time and then it happened.

 

A husband and wife stepped up to the table for an autograph from my driver.  Now, the husband was about 6’ 2” and as wide as a No. 2 pencil.  His wife was not.  She was around 5’ 5” and much, much, much heavier than her husband. 

 

As my driver was signing one of his autograph cards, the husband asked him, “so, do you think she’ll go 325 this weekend?” Obviously referring to the top speed of his Funny Car.  To which the driver looked up, surveyed the couple and without skipping a beat said, “Buddy, she’ll go 350 if you keep feeding her.” And he went right back to signing the card.

 

It was literally one of those ‘did that just happen?’ moments.  The husband nervously laughed, the wife’s jaw dropped, I looked at the driver and was speechless. 

 

The wife began to say a few words to the driver when the husband grabbed her arm and took her away.  The driver looked at me, shrugged his shoulders and said, “well, he asked.”

 

This driver never worried about what he said or to whom.  Honestly, that was part of his reputation, something he never worried too much about. 

 

So here’s the simple lesson and thought that many don’t realize, or think through: Our reputations are the sum of our daily decisions.  Our reputations are the accumulation of what we say or don’t say, what we do or don’t do.

 

I hope that we all understand why that is important.  But now more than ever we need to understand the digital implications of our actions.

 

Our digital footprints can carry us forward or hold us back.  I read an article recently that discussed the significant repercussions social networking behavior can have on our futures - either positive or negative.

 

The interesting thing about social networking is that we often take a very carefree attitude about what we say and share because we are among friends, right?  We have to remember that what we say and share can be passed along very easily and to a global audience. 

 

That’s not a revelation by any measure.  It’s a known fact that college job counselors are working with soon-to-be graduates on minding their social networking manners.  This also applies to high school graduates looking for acceptance letters from their colleges of choice.

 

The article I read focused on Human Resources and corporate recruiters and how they have a candidate ‘black list’ among their networks.  Yes, lists exist of candidates who have bad reputations due to social networking behavior.  There’s a chance that you won’t even get to the first interview if your social networking behavior has been flagged by an easy online search.  

 

In fact, I came across a statistic from a Microsoft study that stated 70% of employers have rejected applicants because of unsavory social networking behavior.

 

As a result a slew of companies have emerged in the Search Engine Optimization (SEO) field to help people ‘clean up’ their social networking house.  If you do a quick Google search for ‘reputation management services’ you’ll be able to scroll through more than 10.7 million results.

 

These services can certainly provide value, but let me give you the best value for your dollar – just think … think before you act, think before you speak and think before you post.  Just think!

 

Fortunately for the drag racer, he made his remark prior to the Twitter and Facebook age.  Had it happened now, I’m sure it wouldn’t have been confined to the handful of stunned people standing at an autograph session.  Knowing him, though, he probably wouldn’t care.  You, however, should. 

"Being Pissed Off Is Not A Strategy"

February 18, 2001 was a dark day for NASCAR and its fans. 

 

The final lap of the season-opening Daytona 500 was shaping up to be a story-book ending for Dale Earnhardt Incorporated with teammates Michael Waltrip on point and Dale Earnhardt Jr. drafting off his rear bumper.  In third place was the familiar black No. 3 driven by a man who transcended the sport – Dale Earnhardt. 

 

With less than one mile to go on the 2.5-mile track and the checkered flag about to unfurl, the story-book ending became a nightmare. 

 

As Waltrip and Dale Jr. began separating themselves from the field in Turns 3 and 4, Earnhardt was doing his best to block the other cars challenging for position.  It was at that point when Earnhardt was blocking that he got a ‘tap’ on the rear bumper by Sterling Marlin, his car got loose, he tried to correct it, but the car turned and went straight up the Turn 4 banking and into the retaining wall.

 

Waltrip and Dale Jr. went on to take first and second, respectively, but all eyes were on the crumpled front-end of the No. 3 and the fact that there was no movement inside the car. Drivers are told by NASCAR officials to put their window nets down after an accident as a sign that they are OK.  Earnhardt’s net never moved. 

 

You had to be living under a rock to not know about this and the impact it had on the sport to lose one of its all-time greatest drivers and personalities.  It was a huge personal and professional loss to all in the NASCAR garage and NASCAR Nation.

 

 Now what some outside of the sport may not know is that Earnhardt’s death was the third in roughly one year and from similar injuries.  Kenny Irwin and Adam Petty both died at the same track (New Hampshire Motor Speedway) and within two months of each other from injuries sustained from basilar skull fractures.  Without getting into all of the details, think of it this way: essentially, the driver’s body is harnessed to the car by being strapped into his driver’s seat – this keeps his body ‘still’.  However when traumatic and sudden deceleration occurs, while the body is ‘one’ with the car, the head is not and keeps moving forward with tremendous force.

 

NASCAR was already investigating the causes of Irwin and Petty’s death and what could be done to prevent these in the future, but Earnhardt’s death just put an exclamation point at the end of “something has to be done!”

 

Earnhardt’s untimely death drew the attention of national and international media as well as the concerns and questions by those who followed and participated in the sport. 

 

Jim Hunter, NASCAR’s communications chief, brought in one of his old friends and a Washington heavy weight to help navigate the situation.  Jody Powell, President Jimmy Carter’s press secretary and legend among media and PR professionals, was called upon to work with the league on how to manage the scrutiny.

 

I had the great opportunity to meet Jody, who passed away last September, with Jim and they recounted a story that I believe epitomizes how to approach a crisis.

 

As Jody told me, there was a very senior meeting at NASCAR’s Daytona Beach headquarters and Bill France, Jr. (for those not familiar with NASCAR, Bill’s father, Bill Sr. founded the sport) was visibly angry and vocal with the way the media were hounding his sport.  For a man who has spent his life nurturing a sport and one who recently lost a close friend (Earnhardt) it’s understandable that this was a very difficult time and one when emotions would be raw.

 

Apparently, this went on for more than a few minutes and when Mr. France went silent, Jody laid it out there and said, “with all due respect, Mr. France, being pissed off is not a strategy.”  Few people in the sport would dare say something like that to Mr. France.  As the room went silent, waiting to see what his response would be, Jody said Mr. France’s face softened and he said, “then let’s talk about what we’re going do.”

 

The man who made a career out of managing messages in Washington yet again delivered the right message at the right time.  Jody quickly took the focus away from the exposed emotions and placed it upon facts and action. 

 

I can’t tell you how much I love that quote and this story and to have heard it from ‘the man’ makes it just that much more special to me – a big thanks to Jim for making that introduction happen.

 

So, think about the reaction we typically have when faced with a reputation crisis – anger, frustration, fear, anxiety, etc., etc., etc.  Those reactions are absolutely natural and nothing of which to be ashamed.

 

The difference between those who successfully save their reputation and those who don’t can be based on three things: 1. How long do they linger on their emotions? 2. How soon do they get to the action-based plan? 3. How good is the plan?  Yes, believe it or not, even we normal people (relatively speaking!)  need a plan.

 

How long do they linger on their emotions?

Emotions are neither good nor bad, they just are.  It’s healthy to feel and embrace them when in an emotional situation, which an attack on your reputation can be.  However, when faced with a crisis, there is a point in time when you have focus beyond what’s been done and move towards what you will do.  What you don’t have more of when in the middle of a crisis is time.

 

How soon do they get to the action-based plan?

A plan for a plan’s sake is worthless. Saying that you are going to do something and then not, is worthless when it comes to defending and building your reputation.  A plan rooted in actionable steps with targeted outcomes is where the magic happens.  Determining ‘how’ the situation came about is critical to outlining your action plan, but the trap is that you can also easily get bogged down in the ‘why’ – that is where the emotions live. You’ve got to move on and take action. 

 

How good is the plan?

Your personal plan is dictated by the individual situation.  So unfortunately there is no ‘magic bullet’.  However, most plans have the same ingredients, you just have to know how to mix them.

 

Below are some topline elements of a solid plan:

·      Does it address the cause of the issue?

·      What will you do to change the situation (short term and long term)?

·      What are you saying and have you communicated it with the right people? 

·      Is what you are saying consistent with what you believe?

·      Are you committed to ‘walking the walk’ after you’ve ‘talked the talk’? Tiger are you reading this??   

 

Here are some other quick thoughts to keep top of mind when it comes to your plan:

·      Does the plan focus on change - personal life or professional career, mental outlook or moral structure, perception or reality?

·      Is it grounded in doing the right thing? 

·      Does the plan address both ‘how we got here’ and ‘how we move beyond’?

·      Is there an apology involved and will it be done properly (see my previous blog on how to make a proper apology)?

 

Remember this story when you come under fire and perhaps find yourself getting wrapped up in the emotions of the situation.  Say to yourself, “with all due respect, being pissed off is not a strategy.” Then outline your plan and get on with putting it into action.

 

Life’s too short not to step up, do the right thing and lead by example.

America’s Favorite Mustard – Kills Bugs Fast

Finally we spring forward.  I am anxious for Spring and better weather.

 

With that weather comes two things: barbecues and bugs.  That’s where we are going in this blog installment and I’ll share with you a true story about how not listening can cause some major headaches and potentially ding your reputation.

 

One of my first PR gigs was managing the NASCAR program for two marquee brands owned by the same company – French’s Mustard and Black Flag Insecticides. 

 

The French’s Mustard brand manager was excited about the NASCAR team sponsorship because she believed she could tap into the lifestyle aspects of the sport - grilling, parties and tailgating.  That is no stretch when you consider that NASCAR fans will spend three days at a race track and that over the past several years NASCAR races have accounted for 17 of the top 20 live sporting events in the country.  And while attendance has been down the past two seasons, the races still draw crowds that, in many cases, outnumber NFL games.

 

Now, the Black Flag brand manager was also keenly aware of what the sport could do for her business in key race markets.  One of the other great aspects of NASCAR is the 10-month racing season and the geography of its race markets.  This sport has the longest schedule in sports, which allows brands longer consumer/retail activation windows.  So, in the case of Black Flag, they keyed in on markets such as Miami, Fla., Phoenix, Ariz., Darlington, S.C., Bristol, Tenn., and Richmond, Va.  These were markets that, according to the brand’s research, essentially (with all due respect) had a lot of issues with bugs.    

 

Enough of the marketing lesson, here’s where it gets interesting.  Neither brand had enough money to both sponsor the team and effectively activate in retail for an entire season.  So, the brand managers pooled their resources and decided to figure out a plan where both would be able to leverage their NASCAR assets.  We worked with them to carve out the markets that would make sense for each brand to be the primary sponsor and in other key markets both would be co-primaries.

 

It was at this time when we started experimenting with paint schemes that would do the co-primary sponsorship justice – how do we design this car to give both brands the proper exposure?  We had come up with a ‘wrap’ design with motorsports artist Sam Bass that looked really good and visually worked for what we had to do.

 

The client, however, didn’t want to see the design because they both felt they should have equal billing on the car (even though that was what the ‘wrap’ design did).  Their solution was simple: split the paint scheme and brand representation straight down the center of the car.

 

Now, this was new territory for them – branding a stock car – and our team kept telling them to let us be their stewards on this, essentially, this is what you are paying us for so let us do our jobs.  They acknowledged our experience, but we were told it was their brand not ours being put on the car.  We went back and forth for about two weeks and told them how this would look and what it would say, but without seeing it they couldn’t see it.  We had to move forward and hit our deadline to paint and decal the car in preparation for the season-opening race in Daytona.

 

I submitted the paint scheme to the team and gave them the same answer the brand team gave me when the guys in the paint shop looked at me and asked, “really? Ok.”

 

So, here’s the punch line.  The car gets painted and decaled with the French’s yellow, blue and red on one side and Black Flag’s black and red on the opposite side.  Both brands had their larger-than-life product bottles and tag lines on the car’s hood.  So as you looked at the car, French’s was on the left and Black Flag was on the right and if you read the taglines, which essentially ran together, they read ‘America’s Favorite Mustard Kills Bugs Fast’.

 

Let’s just say that once the brand managers finally saw the car, they agreed to use the ‘wrap’ design that we had originally suggested.

 

The lesson here is that you may be an expert in a specific area, like the product managers were with their brands.  However, when you take your expertise into new territory, it’s OK (and would more than often benefit you) to listen to those who know the ‘terrain’.

 

Listening, and subsequently taking advice, does not make you weaker, less informed or less effective in what it is you are doing.  In fact, you will become a stronger, more efficient and more effective leader by harnessing the collective experience of the individuals, all the while building a great reputation as a collaborator and team builder who delivers results. 

 

And as the managers of your personal brands, that is not a bad tagline to have earned!   

"Are They Building Grenades Or Engines?"

 I got to thinking about some old times today as my friends in the IZOD IndyCar Series are preparing for their opening event in Sao Paulo, Brazil this weekend.

Two things came to mind: the first was relationships - a critical piece for anyone managing reputations - and the second was the news that didn’t make it to print or broadcast - yet another undervalued by-product of solid PR.

Years back I had the great opportunity to run the PR for Mercedes-Benz in open-wheel racing.  This was a great program not only because was a Fortune 500 brand and it was a high-profile partnership … but because M-B had a clothing partnership with Hugo Boss!! Yes, each year before the season started, we would submit our measurements and the third week of January was our second Christmas as we’d get a huge box full of Hugo Boss clothes – sports coats, jackets, dress pants, dress shirts, polo shirts, ties, belts and even socks.   It certainly helped take the ‘sting’ out of traveling to venues in Miami, Brazil and Laguna Seca (please note the heavy sarcasm).

M-B’s role in the sport was that of an engine manufacturer and provided horsepower to several top teams.  The brand has a racing heritage that spans more than 100 years and our Germans colleagues were focused on nothing less than perfection and winning.  And for a few years this was the case in IndyCar (what was then CART). 

However, what happens when the engines you are building for the race teams fall short of perfection? And when I say fall short, I mean some engines weren’t completing 30 laps before belching smoke and spewing fluids all over the track.

Yes, this was the case for this iconic brand for a long stretch during one season.  In fact, a journalist once asked me, “are they building grenades or engines?”

The regular nature of these ‘malfunctions’ made our post-race reports nearly unbearable to write – creative, but still unbearable.  I mean how many ways can you write an engine expired?  Sometimes we’d joke about just changing the name of the track and date of the race and leave in the previous week’s report.  These reports were distributed to both our corporate partners as well as to the media and attempted to explain what had happened to during the race.  Mercedes was frantically trying to figure out what was going on with their powerplants and my PR team worked just as hard to save face among the media corps. 

And this is where solid relationships saved us.  You are only as good as your relationships in the PR world and my team had worked very hard to establish, nurture and maintain our connections in the media.  It was time to cash in some of those relationship chips as more and more three-pointed star smoke bombs circled the track!

We spent a lot of time talking to our media friends and explained that Mercedes was working on ‘the fix’ and to cut us some slack (please!).  In the meantime, we began developing media and celebrity programs that emphasized things that were working, such as Mercedes’ production cars and tied those to lifestyle events.  We shifted focus away from what was happened on track to what was cool off the track, yet still had a racing connection.

Guess what?  It worked.  Considering the impact of the engine problems (multiple teams not finishing races … Mercedes wasn’t even sniffing second or third place in the engine manufacturer’s race after years of dominance) the negative publicity was minimal.  We continued to leverage our media relationships to keep the stories out of the headlines and it became the biggest non-story story of the year.  Instead, our media friends continued to report on our other lifestyle events.

I sometimes think we did our jobs too well.  How so? Well, in the world of PR, yes you are only as good as your relationships, but you are also only as good as your press clippings!! PR pros have historically been graded on the quantity AND quality of the stories they place.  But, how do you put a value on stories that don’t make it to the sports sections?  How do you quantify something that doesn’t exist, yet it took work to make the story not happen – very counterintuitive for someone in PR.  Our challenge was that the higher ups couldn’t quite appreciate that value when we’d say, “well we kept you out of 35 stories this year.”

OK, so how can you use this in your life to manage your reputation, your brand? 

Two things to keep in mind:

1. Relationships count and are paramount for anyone facing a challenge to their reputation.  Just like we did with the media, you should establish, nurture and maintain personal and professional relationships.  These are the people who will stand by your side when you are trying to fix your own ‘engine’ issues.  Think about it this way: if a good friend of yours said they needed your help to overcome a challenge (and provided it’s not a legal or moral issue), I’m sure you would do whatever you could to help, right? So don’t be afraid to ask the same of them.  By nature humans are wired to help.  Focus on your relationships every day – a personal note, a phone call or even an email with a link to a story they would appreciate will go a long way.  Build relationship management into your daily schedule.

2. Refocus - don’t run and hide if your reputation is under fire.  The problem won’t ‘just go away’.  Work to fix the problem, but also find other areas in your life upon which to focus.  Perhaps it’s volunteering your time and gifts to a church, a hospital or a local charity.  That approach will demonstrate your resolve and resilience … and if channeled properly can have positive impact on others while you work on what might be ‘broken’.  The bottom line is that you can build relationships to help you rebuild your reputation!   

Yeah, I may have ‘outgrown’ the Hugo Boss wardrobe, but I haven’t forgotten the lessons that continued to help us look good.  Try it on and let me know how it fits!

Three Steps For A Proper Apology

I was on a US Airways plane Thursday morning and flipping through USA Today when the headline 'I am deeply sorry' caught my attention.  I found those four words very interesting for a few reasons - first, in a society where personal accountability has taken a back seat to 'I'm a victim', I was surprised that someone actually stood up and said those words; second, I wanted to see who was apologizing; and third, I wanted to see how they were apologizing.

The words of apology were from Akio Toyoda, president of Toyota Motor Corporation.  We have all seen the reputation beating that Toyota has inflicted upon itself by its slow response, 'pass the buck' explanations and what now appears to be additional recall issues.  However, with his name on every car and I am sure prodded by the sense of honor that the Japanese culture values, Mr. Toyoda had to publicly make such a simple statement ... or, maybe it was because he was testifying before a congressional hearing? Unfortunately, I put my money on the latter, if it were the former we would have heard more from him a lot sooner.

But is it enough and is it too late? 

Toyoda finally confirmed what Jim Lentz, Toyota's U.S. boss, had alluded to as a possibility a few weeks ago on The Today Show - that Toyota had gotten their core values and priorities out of whack. Toyoda outlined the car manufacturer's priorities as, "first, safety; second, quality; and third, volume."  I think that safety and quality have joined personal accountability in the back seat.

We see it too often where a company gets greedy and puts its interests before that of its customers - in other words, it shifts its values and behaviors away from what made it successful in the first place.

So, then what?  Well, as is the case with Toyoda, he makes a public apology, but is sorry enough?

It is not.  There are three key components to a true apology.    

1. Be Sincere: People can see through an act.  In the case of Mr. Toyoda, I wouldn't say this was an act, but the timing of the apology at a congressional hearing takes a lot of heart out of the words.

2. Acknowledgment of the Wrong-Doing: In order for the person who was hurt to know that you understand why this was wrong, acknowledging the wrong is critical.  General statements such as, "I'm sorry I hurt you," are not acceptable.  Rather, "I'm sorry that by doing 'x' I hurt you." is the right approach. Again, Mr. Toyoda did specifically acknowledge his company's failures and the impact it had on it customers.  For that, he did a good job of taking responsibility and naming the failures (timing aside).

3. Actionable Next Steps to 'Right the Wrong': A sincere apology and acknowledgment of what happened are wasted breathe if not followed by what will be done to make things right. And please don't use the, "I swear it will never happen again." line.  You know why?? Because we are human and all we can do is try to ensure it won't happen again and that is demonstrated by our actions.  I know that Toyota has been vigorously working with its dealerships to fix the problems (I know because I own a Toyota Sequoia and have received letters from our local dealership), but I didn't see the specifics outlined in Toyoda's excerpts.  

One actionable step that would help the mired brand is to just, as USA Today so aptly wrote, "come completely clean and very publicly attack its troubles."  Johnson & Johnson redefined this corporate practice in 1982 with its tampered Tylenol products. If Toyota did this (without additional recall issues), then they could move past the first two apology steps and aggressively dig into the third.

So, is sorry enough? Only Toyota's actions will tell.

1.

What Is Your Reputation Reflecting?

“The way to gain a good reputation is to endeavor to be what you desire to appear.” ~ Socrates

 

Much like beauty, a reputation is in the eye of the beholder.  The pressing question, though, is what does the beholder see?

Our reputations are built over time, one decision and one action at a time – for better or for worse.   

The challenge with assessing our own reputations, whether personally or professionally, is that we often times see it the way we want to see it and not the way others do. A reputation can be tied to our self image, (how we see ourselves) and therefore how we think others should see us.  But, is that a true reflection?

Have you ever been to a carnival and gone through the Fun House?  If you have, you may remember the wavy mirrors that you’d walk past.  You know, the ones that completely distort how you look, making you look shorter or wider or thinner or taller than you are. 

Reputations are very similar in that they are essentially individual reflections of our behaviors.  If you really want to drill deeper, your reputation truly reflects your values.  So, simply put, your behavior is a direct reflection of your values.  Is that profound? Maybe, maybe not. Is that statement true? Yes.  

So here's the reality check: I am what other people say about me.

I cringe sometimes when I read those words.  I am in no way perfect and have 'dinged' myself plenty of times by not living into my values.  And you know what? I will more than likely do it again.  However, I've made a conscious choice to first identify my values and then focus on how to best live into them.  

That's not always easy because I believe that we have this amazing survival skill called rationalization.  Am I wrong?  Have you ever rationalized decisions? Here are a few to play along with - The Virgin Approach: “It’s just this one time …”, The Entitled Approach: “I deserve this …”, The Corporate Giant Approach: “Look at our bottom line …”, The Enabled Approach: “The rules don’t apply to me …” or how about The Working Class Approach: “I’ve earned this …”.  Any of those sound familiar? Thought so.  

Which of those do you think former New York Governor Eliot Spitzer (who was recently on with Stephen Colbert), Jim Lentz of Toyota, Tiger Woods or South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford used?? Side Note: Sanford’s son is quoted in Jenny Sanford’s book saying upon hearing the news of his adulterous father, “it’s worse than Eliot Spitzer!” Somewhat ironic, huh?

Why is this reputation-centered mindset important? Why should you take the time to think about your reputation?  Simple: Other people are thinking of your reputation every day.  Whether you are looking for a job, currently have a job, are running the company or looking to branch out on your own - your reputation is your strongest asset.  Treat it that way every day.

So what do you want people to say and see when they think of you?

We all have the opportunity to make our reputations stronger.  Remember, your reputation is a constant work in progress or regress – that choice is up to you.

Three Steps to Get the Best Reputation Reflection:

1. What do you value? – Having values in your head is fine, but experts say that the process of writing out important things, like values or goals, will take your commitment to a higher level.  What do you value in relationships, both personal and professional? What qualities do you value in yourself?  What values do you see in others that you want to embrace?  Take the time to reflect and reignite a passion for your values.

2. Create a physical reminder – Once you’ve written out your values, you probably won’t post them in your office (or maybe you will … now that would make a statement!).  Try creating a physical reminder and placing it in your daily setting.  This simple cue will draw you back to focus on your values.  This can be anything from a symbol, to a word, a picture or phrase.  Whatever it is, make sure that it is visible and doesn’t gather dust by just sitting around.  Move it from time to time.  Take it with you on business trips and vacations.  Remember, your reputation doesn’t stay in your office or home – it’s always with you. 

3. Follow through – Always easier said than done, but essential when building, rebuilding or maintaining your reputation.  No one is perfect all of the time, so make sure that you aren’t setting yourself up to fail by taking on too much in order to please people, only to not follow through.  Also, make that call.  Answer that email.  There is always one of those ‘to-dos’ that is sitting on your desk or in your inbox that needs to be addressed.  Often times by taking the few extra minutes to wrap up the loose ends you will feel less stressed or anxious and you’ll help your reputation because you got back with the person and followed through.

What would you add to the list? 

I Am An Evangelist

I am an evangelist.  

I am an evangelist, but not a religious, political or military evangelist.  And no, I don't travel the countryside with a tent and pulpit, although, some days that doesn't sound like a bad idea!

After more than 17 years on the front lines of the sports communications field and speaking about the power of reputations, I have become a Reputation Evangelist.

You see, I have worked first-hand with corporate brands and athletes in NASCAR, IndyCar, NHRA, PGA, ATP Tour Tennis, Off-Shore Powerboats and professional Bass Anglers to develop, maintain and protect their reputations.  I have also seen first-hand how quickly a well-managed reputation can come unraveled.  I have loved this career.  True, putting a crisis management plan into action is not glamorous, nor is it fun, but I've been through my fair share and have learned a lot along the way.

One of the best lessons I've learned is this: there are many circumstances outside of our control, but more often than not we put our reputations into jeopardy by our own doing - think Tiger Woods, John Edwards, Michael Phelps, Michael Vick, David Letterman ... I can go on, if you'd like!

Here's the headline I'm writing for you: Your reputation is all you have when all you have is gone.  

It's time that we recognize the influence and value of our reputations and how it can either lock or unlock doors to our future.

That's what this blog is about. I will share stories that will make you laugh and cry (maybe cry laughing), give you snapshots of current stories and ask for your opinions - all with the intent to start putting our reputations front and center.  That is my mission as a Reputation Evangelist.  Yes, I am an evangelist.  

I'm extending an invite to you to take this journey with me.  Thanks for reading and I love any/all feedback!