Must Reads
There is so much to read, so much to know, so many sources to follow. And the volume of news and information just keeps growing exponentially. How to keep up? Even more, how to rediscover the serendipity of learning something new and interesting for its own sake?
Here, for your enjoyment and interest, are the articles Temin and Company considers “must reads.” They are primarily on the topics of reputation and crisis management, the media, leadership and strategy, perception and psychology, self-presentation, science, girls and women, organizational behavior and other articles of interest.
They are listed below with the most recent articles first, and to the side, by category.
We hope you enjoy them and would appreciate your comments. And whenever you have any favorite articles for us to add, please let us know so that we might include them for other readers to enjoy.
There is so much to read, so much to know, so many sources to follow. And the volume of news and information just keeps growing exponentially. How to keep up? Even more, how to rediscover the serendipity of learning something new and interesting for its own sake?
Here, for your enjoyment and interest, are the articles Temin and Company considers “must reads.” They are primarily on the topics of reputation and crisis management, the media, leadership and strategy, perception and psychology, self-presentation, science, girls and women, organizational behavior and other articles of interest.
They are listed below with the most recent articles first, and to the side, by category.
We hope you enjoy them and would appreciate your comments. And whenever you have any favorite articles for us to add, please let us know so that we might include them for other readers to enjoy.
Jeff Bezos Shows Us A Thing Or Two – 6 Ways To Face Down Crisis With Courage
Leadership, “Reputation Matters,” Forbes, February 8, 2019
Phoenix-like, Jeff Bezos has risen from the ashes of bad decisions to make a great one. He is showing us — individuals, CEOs, Board Members, and other leaders — how to stand up to bullying and extortion — when he has everything to lose by doing it.
Perhaps it takes the richest man in the country, or someone who has been accused of bullying himself, to have the self confidence to put it all on the line. But he is modeling a bold kind of leadership we haven’t seen for a while.
Boards choose and keep CEOs not just for the insight, oversight and strategy they provide in business as usual – but how they lead through the firestorm.
And every organization has firestorms.
But not every CEO has the self-assurance, courage and backing to do the really, really tough — but right — thing when it all goes south. […read more]
Fearing future #MeToo allegations, a growing number of companies are turning to reputation management firms
Harriet Taylor, CNBC Make It, January 29, 2019
The business of protecting companies from sexual harassment scandals is booming.
Calls to reputation management firm Temin and Company quadrupled in 2018, according to president and CEO Davia Temin.
“Sexual harassment has not been one of our biggest areas of inquiry, up until now,” Temin tells CNBC Make It. But with the rise of the #MeToo movement, companies are finding themselves unprepared and facing huge legal liabilities. Temin’s business helps companies — including more than 15 in the Fortune 500 — find and address internal problems, before they become public.
When a company hires Temin and Company, the firm first conducts an in-depth study into the company’s leadership and corporate culture. Temin zeroes in on how persistent a culture of sexual harassment is at an organization and what the company is doing wrong, then makes recommendations at the governance level, including, in some cases, firing senior people. Many of Temin’s clients are in highly-regulated industries, like pharmaceuticals and finance. […read more]
A Year of Reckoning for Davos Man (and One Woman) in the Alps
Jeff Green, Bloomberg, January 20, 2019
These are uncomfortable times for the archetypal men of Davos — and at least one woman.
Established in 1971 to support a global, capitalist vision of the future, the World Economic Forum in Davos this year also offers a reminder of the public humbling of some of its most visible champions. Dozens of the assembled business leaders and exemplars present and past have been brought low by a wide range of misconduct allegations, including sexual harassment, mismanagement and financial misconduct.
“At Davos they are both reflecting and setting the culture,” said Davia Temin, whose crisis consultant company has tallied more than 1,000 people, mostly men, accused of harassment and other misdeeds in the last year. That same list includes more than two dozen men who are present or past Davos attendees. “They reflect the culture of leadership, and sometimes looking in the mirror helps to spur the discussion.” […read more]
Amazon Execs Pool Stock in Revolt Against Board
Lindsay Frost, Agenda, January 11, 2019
A group of employees at Amazon are fed up with the lack of transparency and action the e-commerce giant has taken on climate change. So they decided to pool the shares given to them as compensation to file a proposal asking the company to disclose a solid plan on how to tackle the impacts of climate change. According to The New York Times, this is the first employee-sponsored shareholder resolution filed at a tech company.
This comes as employees begin to work more closely with shareholders to drive action on environmental and social issues impacting companies and the communities in which they operate. Experts predict that more employees, particularly those in the millennial generation, will begin to use their shareholder rights to bring these issues directly to the board. Boards should open the lines of communication to company employees and consider disclosing more about environmental and social issues, sources say.
“Employees are taking their employers up on their word to have a voice at the company, which isn’t just a good brand message anymore,” says Davia Temin, president and CEO of crisis consulting firm Temin and Co. “I don’t think this is going to go away any time soon. It’s probably going to become a staple of governance issues.” […read more]
When the CEO Has To Go
Davia Temin, Directors & Boards, Fourth Quarter 2018
With the explosion of the #MeToo Movement, CEOs – like other executives – are being accused of sexual harassment or inappropriate behavior more than ever before. And after an investigation, if found guilty, more are being shown the door.
Our Temin “#MeToo Index,” which has cataloged all of the serious allegations since December, 2015 (when Bill Cosby was first arrested), has logged accusations against 32 public company CEOs or presidents, and 18 nonprofit CEOs or presidents to date. Approximately 89% of those accused have either resigned or retired, or were fired or suspended. Approximately 30% were fired outright.
But one of the most challenging tasks for any board is firing its CEO. […read more]
Moonves Pay Punishment Caps Year of CEO Naming and Shaming
Jeff Green and Suzi Ring, Bloomberg, December 20, 2018
CBS Corp.’s decision to fire Chief Executive Officer Les Moonves and strip him of a $120 million payout caps an unprecedented year for naming-and-shaming in the corner office.
Corporate boards have been quicker to take action in 2018, now often announcing a CEO’s departure at the same time the misconduct was disclosed, said Davia Temin, founder of crisis consultancy Temin & Co. in New York. In October and November of last year, there were an average of 40 days between the first accusations and a firing. That has shrunk to almost zero now, she said, citing her database. […read more]
The Right Way To Handle A CEO Scandal
Davia Temin, Corporate Board Member, 2018
It used to be that a founding CEO could be excused all manner of misbehavior by his or her board, as long as it was kept quiet and the bottom line was not negatively impacted. In my 20 years as founder and CEO of a boutique crisis management firm, I have dealt with well over 60 cases of CEO dismissal, and an equal number of case where the CEO did not get dismissed. It used to be that the board might either tolerate bad behavior, or publicly support a CEO while privately chastising him relentlessly. Regardless, he or she would stay.
More recently, however, given the outsized attention to serious CEO misbehavior, boards really have little choice—they must react, and act, quickly and decisively. In the brave new world of 24-hour news cycles and social media commentary that transits the globe at the speed of light, no CEO is invulnerable or—once found to be guilty of ethical violations—irreplaceable. […read more]
The Facebook Mess: The Difference Between Commissioning And Acting On Opposition Research
Leadership, “Reputation Matters,” Forbes, November 30, 2018
Not everything that Facebook has done lately is wrong. So, let’s try to sort out the prudent from the feckless before we all jump on the “kill Facebook” bandwagon. Due Diligence vs. Opposition (Oppo) Research Organizations commission in-depth research on their competitors and perceived adversaries all the time: it’s called due diligence. In fact, it could be argued that a company or non-profit is not doing their job if they don’t seek to understand deeply those who invest in them, comment on them, compliment them, and criticize them. That is simply looking for more information, motives, ulterior motives, and doing the proper due diligence that their stockholders and stakeholders would expect them to do. Good strategy would dictate that they can not be expected to fly blind in a firestorm, if they can help it. On this level, there is absolutely nothing wrong — in my opinion as someone who has been active in creating public strategies for private and public organizations for a long time — with Facebook’s commissioning “oppo” research into George Soros after he excoriated tech companies at Davos. You know what: every good professional would, or should have, done the same thing. […read more]
When Masters Of The Universe Fall – How Facebook Committed The 7 Deadly Sins Of Crisis Management
Leadership, “Reputation Matters,” Forbes, November 16, 2018
Wall Street’s Investment Bankers used to be called the Masters of the Universe, but that seems so last millennium now. As the mantle of unbridled self-confidence and ego has moved westward, many new “Tech Masters” have surpassed their predecessors in over-confidence, over-estimation of how powerful they are, and in how badly they can get things wrong. Crisis, of course, ensues.
Facebook showcases the whole issue. Every industry and every generation feels invulnerable as long as everything is going their way. And the behemoth that Mark Zuckerberg built has led the pack. But when a fall from grace comes, as it has come for Facebook (through their own mistakes says yesterday’s blockbuster New York Times article Delay, Deny, Deflect: How Facebook Leaders Leaned Out in Crisis), it shakes the world. At least the cyber world, and all who live or visit there.
Crisis demands the ability to see clearly, the humility to admit mistakes readily, and the courage to do whatever it takes to fix those mistakes immediately. If you can’t do this, you are committing one or more of the 7 deadly cardinal sins of crisis management. Facebook, it turns out, has committed all 7. […read more]
Woman Compiling MeToo Names Says They’re the ‘Tip of the Iceberg’
Jessica Brice and Jeff Green, Bloomberg, October 17, 2018
One year after the #MeToo movement began, Davia Temin’s team is still adding names to what’s known in her office as “the” index. It now totals more than 900, mainly men across the country (only 29 are women) accused of sexual harassment or assault or worse. The number’s still not very large, in Temin’s view.
“I’m sure this is the tip of the tip of the tip of the iceberg,” she said from the Manhattan headquarters of the crisis-management and consulting company she founded 21 years ago. “Believe me, you’re not hearing the worst stories. The worst cases — those people are still out there licking their wounds.” […read more]