An unexpected by-election will take place in Eastleigh on Feb 28. Yet again, a politician set for a glittering career - possibly to the top leadership position of his party - fell from grace through misdemeanours and reputation mismanagement. Chris Huhne may have lost everything - his political career, family, reputation. Although he eventually pleaded guilty in court for perverting the course of justice, to date, he has not actually made a public apology for what he did. He joins a long list of disgraced politicians (Liam Fox, David Laws, Jeffrey Archer, Jonathan Aitken, Jeremy Thorpe and of course the daddy of them all, Bill Clinton) who have with varying degrees of success, sought public forgiveness and return to normality.
Two things always strike me when I read about yet another fall from grace (and mostly they're about money or sex - or both - and yes, they're almost inevitably men). One, like it or not, responsibility comes with being a public figure. Like it or not, you become a role model which means that you're under scrutiny. Like it or not, your reputation depends on how you behave at work and at home. Second, history is littered with stories of exposed politicians and celebrities, so how can intelligent people not learn from them? Being in the public eye means there's very little you can get away with, and very few secrets will remain secrets. Even when I was a schoolgirl, I and my girlfriends knew that as soon as a secret is shared with more than two individuals, you might as well announce it to the whole school. It might take a day, a week or a year to come out, but leak it inevitably will. This is a force of nature and never more so than for people in the public eye - so getting away with it should simply be erased from every public figure's phrasebook.
All this has got me thinking about public figures and apologies - either for their personal misdemeanours, or on behalf of their corporations, parties or countries for behaviours, intended or otherwise. So I was rather tickled by this cartoon.
Many years ago my firm was asked to help the beleaguered Millennium Dome which had just appointed a new Chief Executive following its disastrous management of the Millennium new year celebrations. The new CEO, a Frenchman called PY Gerbeau, who subsequently stamped his lively personality on to a British media and corporate psyche, arrived in the midst of a maelstrom of disappointment, finger-pointing and anger. The first thing we asked him to do, at his introductory press conference was to say sorry. Understandably he wasn't wild about this - but was eventually convinced that he needed to offer, from his heart, an unreserved apology to the British public, taxpayer, politicians, sponsors and New Year's eve participants for the corporate mess that was the Millennium Dome. He followed this apology with an explanation of what he planned to do to make amends, repair the Dome's reputation and turn it into the visitor attraction it was meant to be.
Two things always strike me when I read about yet another fall from grace (and mostly they're about money or sex - or both - and yes, they're almost inevitably men). One, like it or not, responsibility comes with being a public figure. Like it or not, you become a role model which means that you're under scrutiny. Like it or not, your reputation depends on how you behave at work and at home. Second, history is littered with stories of exposed politicians and celebrities, so how can intelligent people not learn from them? Being in the public eye means there's very little you can get away with, and very few secrets will remain secrets. Even when I was a schoolgirl, I and my girlfriends knew that as soon as a secret is shared with more than two individuals, you might as well announce it to the whole school. It might take a day, a week or a year to come out, but leak it inevitably will. This is a force of nature and never more so than for people in the public eye - so getting away with it should simply be erased from every public figure's phrasebook.
All this has got me thinking about public figures and apologies - either for their personal misdemeanours, or on behalf of their corporations, parties or countries for behaviours, intended or otherwise. So I was rather tickled by this cartoon.
Many years ago my firm was asked to help the beleaguered Millennium Dome which had just appointed a new Chief Executive following its disastrous management of the Millennium new year celebrations. The new CEO, a Frenchman called PY Gerbeau, who subsequently stamped his lively personality on to a British media and corporate psyche, arrived in the midst of a maelstrom of disappointment, finger-pointing and anger. The first thing we asked him to do, at his introductory press conference was to say sorry. Understandably he wasn't wild about this - but was eventually convinced that he needed to offer, from his heart, an unreserved apology to the British public, taxpayer, politicians, sponsors and New Year's eve participants for the corporate mess that was the Millennium Dome. He followed this apology with an explanation of what he planned to do to make amends, repair the Dome's reputation and turn it into the visitor attraction it was meant to be.
As classic corporate apologies go, today this would be textbook stuff. Everyone knew it wasn't PY's fault - he wasn't even in the country when the Dome went into meltdown. But this simple act released so much tension in the air that PY was given the space and opportunity to work through his plan.
Then there is the political apology such as Tony Blair apologising in 1997 for the Irish potato famine, David Cameron apologising recently to Liverpool football fans and their families for the Hillsborough disaster. The big question is, how to apologise sufficiently to address the public distress but stop short of opening the legal claims for reparation floodgates? The Irish government is this week battling over how much to 'apologise' or 'express sorrow' over the mistreatment of around 10,000 women who, between 1922 and 1996, were sent to the ten laundry workhouses around the country where they suffered unspeakable hardship. Tony Blair stopped short of apologising for Britain's part in the transatlantic slave trade.
Then there is the political apology such as Tony Blair apologising in 1997 for the Irish potato famine, David Cameron apologising recently to Liverpool football fans and their families for the Hillsborough disaster. The big question is, how to apologise sufficiently to address the public distress but stop short of opening the legal claims for reparation floodgates? The Irish government is this week battling over how much to 'apologise' or 'express sorrow' over the mistreatment of around 10,000 women who, between 1922 and 1996, were sent to the ten laundry workhouses around the country where they suffered unspeakable hardship. Tony Blair stopped short of apologising for Britain's part in the transatlantic slave trade.
Harder to do is a corporate apology for something that happened under your watch, making it your personal responsibility. Apple CEO Tim Cook's perfectly toned and worded apology for the disastrous replacement of Google Maps with Apple Maps has won the plaudits of many, and calmed down a massive loyal group of fans who had become decidedly angry and restless. He could have been a little more humble but he moved fast, actually used the words "we're sorry" and outlined what he and his team plan to do to remedy the damage. Of course Apple started from a strong position - it had plenty of reputation and trust equity so recovery from a corporate offence is always faster and easier to do.
There are of course, corporate apologies which are too late and too unbelievable, and which start from such a low base of reputation and trust that they have cost not only the CEO's but also Chairman's and other senior executives' jobs. I am referring of course to among others, RBS's Fred Goodwin and Tom McKillop, BP's Tony Hayward and BBC's George Entwistle - who will be provide fodder for many a business school's coursework for many years to come.
So in the event that you are faced with the need to apologise, what to do?
First, sort out your own frame of mind. You need to know that you've done something wrong, you need to be convinced that there is a problem which needs fixing and you need to accept that change needs to happen in your organisation before reparation can be made. Be honest with yourself, apologising because someone tells you to apologise just won't cut it. Second, ask the question. Find out how other people feel. If you're wise, you wouldn't be surrounded by sycophants so your team will give you answers you need and not you those want to hear. Ask your consumers, stakeholders, people who matter to you. Chances are people are angrier/more disappointed than you think. Third, get a move on. Don't wait around for things to get better because in the absence of action, they seldom do. Act fast - work out a strategy and put it into action. Fourth, say it. Actually use the words "I'm/we're sorry". Not sorry for the fact that something happened, but sorry for what we have done - no finger-pointing, no blaming anyone else. Make it personal - either online, using social media or to traditional media, don't depend on press releases, don't hide behind your PR machine. Address those directly impacted by the problem and use the right tone of voice and the right platform. Fifth, what next? Explain exactly what you plan to do to remedy the situation including your expected timeline, and promise to get back with outcomes.
Pope John Paul II has famously apologised for over 100 of the Catholic Church's wrongdoings - he has apologised to Jews, Galileo, women, the Inquisition, the Crusaders and sex abuse cases. He could not make good most of these wrongdoings as they happened so long ago, but the Church's failure to take action on priests and paedophilia has rather negated the value of any apology, however heartfelt it might have been expressed.
It's all common sense really, but then again, not getting into trouble in the first place is common sense and yet they keep happening. So I make no apology for stating the obvious.
There are of course, corporate apologies which are too late and too unbelievable, and which start from such a low base of reputation and trust that they have cost not only the CEO's but also Chairman's and other senior executives' jobs. I am referring of course to among others, RBS's Fred Goodwin and Tom McKillop, BP's Tony Hayward and BBC's George Entwistle - who will be provide fodder for many a business school's coursework for many years to come.
So in the event that you are faced with the need to apologise, what to do?
First, sort out your own frame of mind. You need to know that you've done something wrong, you need to be convinced that there is a problem which needs fixing and you need to accept that change needs to happen in your organisation before reparation can be made. Be honest with yourself, apologising because someone tells you to apologise just won't cut it. Second, ask the question. Find out how other people feel. If you're wise, you wouldn't be surrounded by sycophants so your team will give you answers you need and not you those want to hear. Ask your consumers, stakeholders, people who matter to you. Chances are people are angrier/more disappointed than you think. Third, get a move on. Don't wait around for things to get better because in the absence of action, they seldom do. Act fast - work out a strategy and put it into action. Fourth, say it. Actually use the words "I'm/we're sorry". Not sorry for the fact that something happened, but sorry for what we have done - no finger-pointing, no blaming anyone else. Make it personal - either online, using social media or to traditional media, don't depend on press releases, don't hide behind your PR machine. Address those directly impacted by the problem and use the right tone of voice and the right platform. Fifth, what next? Explain exactly what you plan to do to remedy the situation including your expected timeline, and promise to get back with outcomes.
Pope John Paul II has famously apologised for over 100 of the Catholic Church's wrongdoings - he has apologised to Jews, Galileo, women, the Inquisition, the Crusaders and sex abuse cases. He could not make good most of these wrongdoings as they happened so long ago, but the Church's failure to take action on priests and paedophilia has rather negated the value of any apology, however heartfelt it might have been expressed.
It's all common sense really, but then again, not getting into trouble in the first place is common sense and yet they keep happening. So I make no apology for stating the obvious.
Comments
Post a Comment