Leadership, “Reputation Matters,” Forbes, November 26, 2025
The question every public, semi-public, or even fiercely private figure must be thinking about these days is whether their private lives will bear up under today’s public scrutiny.
Be they quiet indiscretions or major reputational breaches, today we have few secrets left. Given the capabilities of AI to sort through massive sets of data, coupled with the public’s voracious appetite for scandal and judgement, sins of the past are being uncovered, sins of the present are being called out loudly, and sins that never even happened are being manufactured.
Jobs, marriages, citizenship, board composition and leadership roles of all kind hang in the balance. But there’s little discernment between seriously harmful, indefensible actions and fixable human error. Worse, there’s little mercy to be had, only public shaming. It’s reputational warfare: an ugly moment showcasing almost a blood lust that’s playing out in front of us. […read more]