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.
CMO Today: Omnicom’s Clients Unbunde Digital Buys; Starbucks Shuts Stores For Racial-Bias Training; YouTube Addresses Creators
Lara, O’Reilly, The Wall Street Journal’s CMO Today, April 18, 2018
Starbucks made headlines this weekend after finding itself at the receiving end of a backlash when two black men were arrested at a downtown Philadelphia location. On Tuesday, they announced they will close all their company-owned U.S. stores on the afternoon of May 29 for racial-bias training, a move that some might compare to when Chipotle closed its stores to hold a national staff meeting about food safety.
But in Starbucks’ case, the company isn’t just applying a Band-Aid to an unraveling crisis, but defining best practice and a leadership position, according to Davia Temin. “Starbucks is defining a new level of seriousness in crisis response. It is a unique step—not one right out of some PR playbook—that both feels and appears to be honest and real.” […read more]
How Did Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg Do? Crisis-Management Experts Weigh In
John Simons and Vanessa Fuhrmans, The Wall Street Journal, April 11, 2018
Facebook Inc. CEO Mark Zuckerberg testified in front of U.S. Congress on Tuesday afternoon. How did he do under fire? Crisis-management expert Davia Temin weighed in.
I think he gets an A-plus, considering where he started. He took responsibility for the mistakes he made. He stood up to the criticism and he didn’t deny it. What would infuriate the American people would be to deflect it, to seem holier than thou. He didn’t go that route.
He did not get cowed by the phalanx of photographers in the beginning, and that’s important. When you sit in that chair and you look out at the rows of photographers snapping pictures at you, that is a very daunting moment.
The apology tour beforehand was not as effective. You need to show you have a grand understanding of the damage that was done, and I think he began to do that. […read more]
How Mark Zuckerberg can prep to be Congress’s ‘whipping boy’
Matt Kwong, CBC News, April 9, 2018
Keep your cool, Mark Zuckerberg, because this could get ugly. Show deference. Take your lumps. Watch your tone. Rehearse, rehearse, rehearse. Draw lessons from previous CEO flameouts and triumphs.
General Motors CEO Mary Barra survived a bruising testimony in 2014 about the ignition-switch recall, and remains in her executive role to this day.
“She’s the model of how to take responsibility, how to be authentic, to be real, to not shirk” the scandal, said Davia Temin, a New York-based CEO coach who also prepares them for testimony. “She had a plan to fix it even though it had been a matter of months that she’d been in the role and it wasn’t necessarily of her making. She was brilliant.”
Barra’s ownership of the problem likely helped bring the scandal to a close in the public’s minds, Temin said.
“Frankly, if I were working with Zuckerberg, I would bring out those tapes of Mary.” […read more]
Leadership at the Crossroads Part 3: Courage to Speak Boldly When it Counts.
Gloria Feldt, The Sum – The Meaning of This Week, April 2, 2018
This article’s author asks readers whether they plan to delete their Facebook accounts in the wake of the controversy that threatened to unseat the social media giant. She also looks to Davia Temin’s Forbes post about what Mark Zuckerberg should have done and said.
“Facebook has been larger than life in our worlds for over a decade,” said Davia Temin. “We have trusted it enough to bring it into our homes and bedrooms, our commutes and workplaces, our friendships and our families until it has almost reached ubiquity. So Facebook’s responses to such a larger-than-life issue as this — the possible dissolution of our sovereign decision-making process — must be bigger than life, too. And far, far better.” […read more]
Best Board Practices in Managing Reputational Risk
Davia Temin and Darcy Howe, Risk & Compliance, April-June 2018
The stakes around reputational risk have never been higher for companies – with the potential for damaging everything from market value to the ability to recruit and retain the best talent. Regulations put in place post-global financial crisis called for boards to disclose their role in risk oversight, but the explosive disclosures around cyber hacks and sexual harassment have lifted reputational risk oversight to an even more heightened level of urgency.
A key issue is how crises today are creating significant reputational impact. When a company experiences a crisis event – whether it is a massive data breach or allegations of misbehaviour in the executive ranks – the reputation of every investor, every customer and every person who gets a pay cheque from that company is at risk.
There are a number of best practices for directors when facing the highly complex and sensitive issues emerging today. Davia Temin and Darcy Howe share a number of best practices for boards, who are more involved in managing reputational risk than ever before. […read more]
America’s Leadership Crisis: Davia Temin
Richard Davies, How Do We Fix It?, March 30, 2018
With turmoil and never-ending drama in the White House, and record numbers of departures from top levels of the Trump Administration, it is safe to say that America is facing a leadership crisis.
This episode’s guest, Davia Temin, looks at how leaders can avoid the mistakes and embarrassment that could ruin their reputation, lead to their downfall and cause their employees and associates great harm.
She speaks from a place of deep experience and passion about the crucial importance of ethics, honesty and diversity, as well as the need for leaders to communicate quickly and clearly, especially in times of crisis. We learn about the do’s and don’ts of crisis communications as well as the benefits of coaching and training. […read more]
What Mark Zuckerberg Should Have Said
Leadership, “Reputation Matters,” Forbes, March 23, 2018
You know that Marianne Williamson quote: “Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure?” Well so it is with Facebook. It turns out Facebook is far, far more powerful than any of us — even they, even Mark Zuckerberg — ever thought.
And with such awesome power comes awesome responsibility.
This week, Facebook shirked that responsibility through its terribly late and insufficient response to the Cambridge Analytica data hijacking scandal.
As a crisis advisor and coach who has crafted hundreds of what I hope are truly on-point, effective, and emotionally resonant crisis responses, here’s what I wish Mark Zuckerberg had done to give the world a response worthy of a Facebook’s vast global power and influence. […read more]
Zuckerberg built an instant gratification machine — but took his time addressing the trouble it’s caused
Jena McGregor, The Washington Post, March 22, 2018
After Mark Zuckerberg broke his silence Wednesday about the mushrooming Cambridge Analytica scandal, it’s hard to argue the Facebook founder and CEO has said too little.
Zuckerberg wrote a 935-word Facebook post Wednesday where he said “we have a responsibility to protect your data, and if we can’t then we don’t deserve to serve you,” outlining steps the company was taking following blockbuster reports about user data being scraped without their consent. He sat for interviews with the New York Times, Wired, tech publication Recode and a rare on-camera interview with CNN.
But despite the Facebook post and parade of media interviews, crisis experts argue Zuckerberg’s personal response came much too late.
“The higher the stakes, the quicker you want to plant your flag,” said Davia Temin. “And these stakes are arguably the highest of any crisis we’ve seen in a long time for a corporation.” […read more]
3 Important Lessons From Facebook’s Deepening PR Crisis
Ari Zoldan, Inc., March 22, 2018
Facebook hasn’t exactly been sitting pretty in the court of public opinion, even if many who were holding its feet to the fire over unscrupulous “fake news” stories and Russian-bought political advertisements were still using the social media platform. But the storm was perhaps breaking, and brighter skies — or at least neutral ground — seemed on the horizon.
Then Cambridge Analytica happened.
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg released a statement that amounted to an acceptance of responsibility, and promised that the company would be making changes to its data security policies.
However, the response came four days after news broke of the scandal.
“In today’s world, I believe you have 15 minutes to address some kind of crisis when it emerges over social media,” Davia Temin told MarketWatch. Customers don’t like to be left in the dark. A quick repsonse is key to rebounding. […read more]
Opinion: Facebook’s Zuckerberg had 15 minutes to respond to privacy crisis — he took four days
Howard Gold, MarketWatch, March 22, 2018
Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg finally broke his silence late Wednesday afternoon.
In a long and technical statement posted on his Facebook page, the CEO addressed the massive misuse of personal information in which a researcher was able to release data on 50 million Facebook users without their consent to Cambridge Analytica, a firm that worked closely with the Trump campaign during the 2016 presidential election.
Davia Temin said Facebook missed its chance to shape the narrative in its favor, and Zuckerberg’s statement did nothing to change that. “This is a totally insufficient response, both operationally and emotionally,” she said. “Yes, it is prescriptive, yet strangely hollow, limited, unemotional, and lacking any form of apology.” She added that it made Facebook look like it was “fiddling while the world is burning.” […read more]