In the News–Perception & Psychology
President Trump Cedes Moral Leadership To Big Business
Alexander C. Kaufman, The Huffington Post, August 19, 2017
A deadly attack by an avowed white supremacist shocked the nation. The president’s response came swiftly, and triggered raw emotion. Despite a sometimes strained relationship with the White House, corporate board rooms stayed silent, spared the need to weigh in.
That was 2015.
This week, chief executives at some of the country’s biggest companies tossed out usual protocols and disavowed the sitting commander-in-chief after President Donald Trump refused to single out the white supremacists and neo-Nazis who rallied in Charlottesville, Virginia, last weekend.
Of course, distance from the leader of the ruling political party won’t cost executives their jobs like it might lawmakers facing reelection in an era of hyper partisanship. At a particularly circus-like time in politics, this gives companies the ability to “become the adults in the room,” said Davia Temin, a management coach and reputation consultant who worked with some of the companies whose leaders resigned from Trump’s councils this week.
“Business has a planning and strategic horizon that is further out than four years or eight years or 12 years,” she told HuffPost. “They can actually have a counterpoint and be the counterbalance to the short governance by tweet.” […read more]
Trump CEO Brain Trust Huddles as Corporate America Splits
Justin Sink and Matt Townsend, Bloomberg | Quint, February 3, 2017
President Donald Trump has needled Mary Barra at General Motors Co. He’s troubled Doug McMillon at Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and gone after Boeing Co., once headed by Jim McNerney. Those business leaders, and about a dozen others, sat down on Friday with Trump to talk trade, regulation and more.
In his first two weeks as president, Trump has rewritten the Washington playbook for corporate America, as he has for U.S. allies. In the process, he has opened rifts between companies over how to approach matters ranging from taxes to immigration and revealed the first cracks in companies’ tentative embrace of him, drawing criticism from some of the chief executives who were in the room Friday morning.
The meeting is the latest in a series of White House events designed to allow Trump to solicit feedback from business leaders — and burnish his image as a can-do businessman ready to strike deals. The events usually start with pictures and video clips to feed the news cycle and then a closed meeting with the president and top aides.
After the photo ops is when it gets interesting, of course, and it could be up to Blackstone’s Schwarzman to keep things in order, said Davia Temin, founder of the crisis-management company Temin & Co. in New York. If he’s allowed to be in charge, he should run it like a board meeting, with vigorous but respectful debate.
“One model is a high degree of professionalism and politeness, even while being tough and entrenched in your questioning,” she said. But “some boards are different — some boards you have knock-down, drag-outs.” […read more]
The trust question: Can Barclays Bank rebuild the brand?
Barbara Kimmel, The FCPA Blog, March 17, 2016
Jes Staley is the newly appointed American CEO of the beleaguered British Barclays Bank. He recently said, “I do believe that trust is returning to our institution. But we will never rest, we are never done. We have to focus on building that trust every day.”
We asked our Trust Alliance members to weigh in on the steps Barclays new American CEO should take to build trust and ethics.
Davia Temin, a leading reputation and crisis response consultant, said, “Rebuilding trust in financial institutions is a complex algorithm that can test the skills of the best financial engineering ‘rocket scientist.’ Far from simply making a pronouncement of one’s intent (although that can be the first step), the organization needs to first deconstruct all the elements that went into building trust in their particular firm in the first place, analyze all the things that went wrong, and then construct a plan to overcorrect the breaches. Because simply fixing them will not rebuild trust, it will only, maybe, stop the erosion. But this is seriously hard work.” […read more]
For Interim CEOs, a Job Full of Pitfalls
Rachel Feintzeig and Joann S. Lublin, The Wall Street Journal, January 7, 2016
It’s hard being the in-between boss. The temporary chief executives of Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc. and United Continental Holdings Inc. are currently getting a taste of the challenge while the firms’ full-time leaders are undergoing medical treatment.
Few management assignments hold as many pitfalls as that of the interim boss, say those who advise and research such leaders. Temporary leaders must show strength and rally the troops during uncertain times, but they also can’t make bold changes or act like they will run the place long-term.
“It’s a short runway,” says Davia Temin, CEO of Temin & Co. “An interim CEO will rarely be able to change the culture.” […read more]
7 Secrets Of People Who Have It All Together
Gwen Moran, Fast Company, September 24, 2015
You know them: Those people who seem to glide through life effortlessly. They get through the workday without getting flustered, usually looking great while doing it. They don’t seem to struggle with juggling the demands of work and life. They just have their acts together. Do they know something we don’t?
“In some sense, yes,” says leadership coach Davia Temin, founder of Temin and Company, a New York City reputation management company. Temin says that, while no one has a perfect life, some people have figured out the key to looking like they do. And, often, they share some commonalities. […read more]
Communicating with Authority and Compassion in Crisis or Opportunity
Wanda Wallace, “Out of the Comfort Zone,” Voice America, August 21, 2015
The most admired leaders are admired because of their skill in communicating. What do these leaders do and not do that sets them apart? The answer to that question is what the show is all about. We will be talking with Davia Temin, President and CEO of Temin and Company, about how leaders inspire, how they convey authority and what they do when things go wrong. […read more]
To download the episode, CLICK HERE.
Crisis manager, executive coach Temin to discuss resilience, bouncing back
Deborah Trefts, The Daily Chautauquan, July 13, 2015
Some people take life’s curveballs and crises in stride; they handle adversity remarkably well. Others take longer — or seem unable — to move on. They get stuck or fall apart.
“Nobody gets out of this life unscathed,” said Davia Temin, a global reputation strategist, crisis manager and executive coach.
At 1 p.m. today at the Chautauqua Women’s Club House, Temin will give a talk titled “Resilience: Bouncing Back from Life’s Slings and Arrows,” as part of the Chautauqua Professional Women’s Network series. It will include new research about what people can do to influence their reaction to fate. […read more]
Why female CEOs are staying quiet on activist investors
Caroline Fairchild, Fortune, February 12, 2015
Do activist investors really see women CEOs as easier targets? That’s the question that media pundits and experts alike are abuzz with as six prominent female CEOs fend off bids from aggressive activist investors. Most recently, GM CEO Mary Barra is feeling pressure from an activist who is trying to get on her board. She joins Pepsi’s Indra Nooyi, Yahoo’s Marissa Mayer, DuPont’s Ellen Kullman, Mondelez’s Irene Rosenfeld and HP’s Meg Whitman who are also under pressure from the likes of activists.
With only 25 female CEOs in the Fortune 500, it’s hard not to pause and question if gender targeting is really going on. But rather than join the discussion on whether or not they think these activists are targeting them on gender grounds, all the executives are staying quiet. None of the women have come out publicly on the issue and all of them either denied Fortune’s request for comment or didn’t respond immediately. Why?
Call it good common sense. Becoming the “poster child” for any issue — gender aside — when your company is under pressure to perform is the last thing any CEO should do, a group of experts told Fortune. Commenting publicly on the issue would not only put these women in a position of weakness, but could encourage activist investors to see their gender as a barrier to them being an effective leader.
“Chief executives are interested in maintaining both their power and reputation,” said Davia Temin, the founder of Temin & Co., a crisis-management firm. “There would be no benefit in acknowledging your gender. In fact, a lot of detriment could come of that. A female CEO doesn’t need to remind anyone else that she is a woman seeking the very same leadership goals as a man.” […read more]
Target CEO Ouster Shows New Board Focus on Cyber Attacks
Matt Townsend, Lindsey Rupp and Jeff Green, Bloomberg, May 6, 2014
Chief executive officers beware: Data breaches can now cost you your job.
Yesterday Target Corp.’s board ousted CEO Gregg Steinhafel in the wake of a hacker attack that compromised the personal data of millions of shoppers during the holiday season. Steinhafel’s main error was to move too slowly in shoring up the chain’s defenses even after being warned that point-of-sale terminals were vulnerable to cyber criminals.
His fall reverberated in corporate boardrooms everywhere. Since revelations that Target, luxury chain Neiman Marcus Group Ltd. and arts-and-crafts retailer Michaels Stores Inc. had all been hacked late last year, company directors have embarked on a crash course to understand the threat and how to combat it.
Davia Temin shares her thoughts on the risks to CEOs and the response necessary for these types of crises. […read more]
NBA Response to Sterling-Clippers Fiasco Holds Lessons for Companies
Ben DiPietro, The Wall Street Journal, May 2, 2014
The speed and severity with which the National Basketball Association acted following the public release of racist remarks made by L.A. Clippers owner Donald Sterling should serve as a model for how other organizations respond to crises, experts in the field said.
NBA Commissioner Adam Silver issued a lifetime ban on Sterling and vowed to force him to sell the team, all within a few days of Mr. Sterling’s comments being made public.
Davia Temin, principal of reputation and crisis management firm Temin and Co., said “he’s defusing some of the anger by his swift and very strong and powerful actions.” […read more]
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