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America’s Leadership Crisis: Davia Temin — How Do We Fix It? podcast with host Richard Davies
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Companies: Crisis and Common Ground — Let's Find Common Ground podcast with hosts Richard Davies and Ashley Milne-Tyte.
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Communicating with Authority and Compassion in Crisis or Opportunity — Voice America’s Out of the Comfort Zone with host Wanda Wallace.
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Leading Through Crisis & Chaos — Know the Rules of the Game® Podcast with host Desiree Patno & Special Guest Davia Temin.
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Temps at the Top — Marketplace with Kai Ryssdal.
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You Can Eradicate Sexual Harassment in Your Organization — Monday Morning Radio.
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Leading in a ‘Me Too’ Era
In the era of #MeToo, leaders need to know what to do to prevent the problem in the first place.
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Temin and Company is often quoted in print, broadcast and social media on topical issues as well as industry trends.
Following is a list of links to those articles, beginning with the most recent.
What Mark Zuckerberg Got Wrong In His 1300-Word Facebook Memo
Jena McGregor, Forbes, October 7, 2021
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg finally weighed in on the escalating crisis at the social media giant on Tuesday with a lengthy missive that downplayed risks and hit the wrong note with people on and off the platform, doubling down on his defense of the company.
The memo followed stunning whistleblower testimony, a series of damaging media reports and one of the longest outages of the platform in its history on Monday, when a falling stock price prompted Zuckerberg to temporarily drop on the Forbes 400 list before rebounding.
Communications advisers criticized Zuckerberg’s more than 1,300-word memo to employees for being too long, defensive and out of tune with the emotionally charged debate playing out over the social media platform’s role in society. The memo launched with a technical term about the outage, lobbed a series of rhetorical questions and defended Instagram’s impact on teenage girls’ mental health.
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For many people, Facebook has become so emotional – and its impact on society, democracy and mental health so personal – that a response that doesn’t take that tone is lacking, advisers said.
Especially during the pandemic, said Davia Temin, the founder of a reputation and management consulting firm, Facebook has become a tool to which many people are emotionally connected after so much time at home alone.
But in the response, “he’s missing that emotional quotient, and he’s missing it by a mile,” she said. (Temin is also a contributor to Forbes.)
“As a CEO you have to appreciate points of view that are not your own. You may be convinced with every cell of your body they may be wrong but nonetheless you have to take it into consideration and you have to respond to it.” […read more]
Texas based Match, Bumble react to new anti-abortion law
Isa Soares, CNN’s Quest Means Business, September 3, 2021
In an interview with CNN’s Isa Soares about business’s reaction to Texas’ new anti-Choice law, Davia Temin discusses how many companies are waiting to see the reaction of the public before taking a stand.
“Do not underestimate the power of employees….and of customers and of stake holders, shareholders, to affect the positions that corporations will take.”
“There’s a ‘Fanatical Group of Worshippers’ in Your Stock. What’s Next?”
Lindsay Frost, Agenda, June 28, 2021
AMC Entertainment Holdings CEO Adam Aron has been actively embracing on Twitter, YouTube and other platforms a new trove of investors who propelled the company’s stock price up more than 300% in the past month. The latest Reddit-driven phenomenon has companies reconsidering how to communicate with these investors and encourage them to stick around — especially for those companies that could use the investment to pay off debt and invest in innovations.
The so-called meme stock frenzy, which has led to a deluge of retail investors pouring into AMC, GameStop, Clover Health and the GEO Group, is a hotly debated topic on Wall Street, but for boards overseeing companies that suddenly have an influx of retail investors, sources say it’s important to nail down the right messaging, consider incentivizing these investors and use the cash wisely.
“This brave new world of all of these Internet platforms and every person having their own voice has the power to whipsaw pretty much everything we thought we knew, and that extends to the fundamental value of stock,” says Davia Temin, president and CEO of risk consulting firm Temin & Co. “The wise board, and certainly the wise company, has to understand what is going on and figure out the way to communicate to all parties in a way that engenders trust.” […read more]
Red Corporation, Blue Corporation? Corporate political speech becomes a board issue
April Hall, Directors & Boards, 2021 Second Quarter
After the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, many companies announced that they would halt political contributions, either permanently or for a defined period. Some discontinuations involved a particular political party, some individual legislators and some were complete stops on all contributions.
In the age of “cancel culture,” when social media can circulate calls for boycotts to millions of people in minutes, some companies have begun to act quickly, with either their words or their wallets, to distance themselves from political controversy But there are other companies that have leaned in to a variety of public political positions. This raises the question: Are some companies becoming recognized as “blue” (Democrat-supporting) or “red” (Republican-supporting), or even “purple”? And are such associations good for a company, its shareholders and its stakeholders?
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Crisis communications consultant Davia Temin says she often encourages her client companies to take apolitical stands.
During political or social upheaval, sometimes “corporations have to become the adults in the room,” Temin says. Corporations need to maintain some neutrality, “but it’s the difference between making sure that as a corporation you have a purpose and if you’re true to purpose.”
However, she doesn’t usually advise being outwardly political. She says there is a difference between having a “political point of view” and speaking out about a “behavior,” like systemic racism.
“I still think strict political lines are not the way to go,” Temin says.
She also doesn’t support the legal idea behind the Supreme Court’s landmark 2010 decision in Citizens United v. FEC, which said the free speech clause of the First Amendment prohibits the government from restricting corporations’ independent expenditures for political communications. The decision has been popularly associated with the notion of “corporate personhood.”
“Corporations are not people,” Temin says. “They are conglomerations of people, and they need big tents for their clients, employees and other stakeholders.
“That is different than having a sole political point of view.” […read more]
In Trump Era’s End, an Uneasy Reckoning for Corporate America
Jeff Green, Bloomberg, January 7, 2021
Corporate America is parting with its CEO president — carefully.
Four years after Donald Trump swept into the White House, cowing executives and shaking markets with tweet storms and tantrums, corporations that applauded when he cut taxes and red tape are struggling to come to grips with the havoc that’s now followed.
After Trump incited a mob of loyalists to storm the Capitol Wednesday, prominent business figures swiftly condemned the violence — without mentioning the president by name. Only one major business group, the National Association of Manufacturers, singled him out. Even as the Trump administration comes to its chaotic end, with calls for the president to be immediately removed from office, the business world is stepping delicately.
When Trump arrived in Washington, he could sway a company with a tweet. Now Facebook has suspended his account, possibly for the duration of his presidency, while Twitter put him on a 12-hour ban and warned it could take more permanent steps. Shopify, the Canadian company behind many e-commerce sites, said Thursday that it had closed two online stores that sell red MAGA hats and other Trump paraphernalia.
“That’s how quickly the worm turns,” said Davia Temin, founder of New York City crisis consultancy Temin and Co. “One needs to make a distinction between Trump the president, who you may or may not have made any comments about over the last four years, and the sedition, the attack on the Capitol that happened yesterday afternoon.” […read more]
Felicity Huffman lands 1st acting role since college admissions scandal
Good Morning America, December 1, 2020
The actress, who served 11 days in jail after pleading guilty in the Varsity Blues scandal, will star in an ABC comedy as the unlikely owner of a minor league baseball team.
“She’s been truly contrite and regretful, remorseful, about what she did,” said Davia Temin. “She comes out, maybe, with a renewed sense of purpose. That’s something that really works for reputation rehabilitation. Because it’s real.”
Know the Rules of the Game: Leading Through Crisis & Chaos
Desirée Patno, Know the Rules of the Game, June 17, 2020
We’re no longer in crisis, we’re in chaos. Here are rules to help you lead – yourselves, your family, company, and community – through crisis and chaos, with honor, integrity, and your reputation intact. From one of the most sought-after crisis strategists in the world.
Desirée Patno, host, Know the Rules of the Game Podcast, is joined by Davia Temin to discuss leading through crisis and chaos.
Franklin Fires Staffer the Day After Park Video Goes Viral
Annie Massa, Bloomberg, May 26, 2020
The video of an altercation on Monday between a white female executive and a black man in Central Park went viral almost immediately. Within 24 hours, the woman was out of a job.
The woman, an employee of Franklin Templeton, is seen calling the police on her mobile phone saying “there is an African American man, I am in Central Park. He is recording me, and threatening myself and my dog.” The man had earlier asked her to leash her dog in the wooded area of the park, called the Ramble, according to his account.
The incident underscores the nature of race relations in the U.S., in which African-Americans have faced outbursts — and worse — while simply going about their business. It also demonstrates that companies are increasingly holding employees accountable even for behavior that occurs outside the office.
“We’re living in chaos and predictable responses are going out the window,” said Davia Temin, founder of New York City crisis consultancy Temin and Co. “What wisdom would tell you, is to just walk away. But that usually takes a less stressful environment, and right now all the ions are charged.” […read more]
In face of coronavirus, bankers apply lessons from natural disasters
John Engen, American Banker, April 29, 2020
It can be “very dangerous to extrapolate success in one smaller crisis” to a global pandemic, said Davia Temin, chief executive of crisis management consultant Temin and Company.
Katrina roared in with fury, leaving millions of people homeless and without electricity, then left. Banking was done on card tables with paper IOUs, but at least life still went on elsewhere and the path ahead was somewhat clear. It was, in many ways, a unifying experience.
COVID-19’s descent was more like a slow, rolling wave, creeping in stealthily from a distance. The physical infrastructure is fine, but the sense of uncertainty and isolation from social distancing promises no short-term exit.
“The situations are totally different,” Temin said. “You might have an idea about how to approach things, but generally God and the devil are in the details, and those details are never the same,” she said. “If you make a misstep, it could be difficult to disentangle yourself from those decisions.” […read more]
It’s time to face the ‘new normal.’ Here’s how we can begin
Caroline Fairchild, LinkedIn’s Working Together, April 15, 2020
On the night of March 11, Anna Maria Chávez made an urgent call to her CEO. Chávez, who was the chief growth officer of the National Council on Aging, was watching President Trump announce to the nation that travel from the United States to Europe would be suspended. She told her CEO that the council needed to move its nearly 100-person team to remote work, and they needed to do it now. The next morning, no one on the non-profit’s staff was in the office.
Chavez’s quick reaction didn’t come out of nowhere. It was a skill she developed while working as a policy advisor to the Arizona National Guard early on in her career. And that quick thinking is exactly what crisis expert Davia Temin says every leader — and every worker, really — needs to embrace right now.
Whether you’re the CEO of a large organization or an employee who is part of a smaller team, it’s likely that your job looks very different right now. As we settle into this new normal, the quicker you can get out of denial that your industry, career and role have changed, the better off you’ll be.
“The first thing we do is that we say this can’t be happening or it won’t be that bad or no one will notice and it is just a cascade of denial,” Temin said. “The longer you wait in denial, the worse it gets where you can’t put in fixes anymore.” […read more]
Podcasts »
Leading Through Crisis & Chaos
Know the Rules of the Game® Podcast: with host Desiree Patno & Special Guest Davia Temin.
To listen, Click Here.
Temps at the Top — Marketplace with Kai Ryssdal
To listen, Click Here.
You Can Eradicate Sexual Harassment in Your Organization — Monday Morning Radio
To listen, Click Here.
...more »