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"Reputation Matters" White Papers seek to offer deeper insight on a wide range of topics we help clients address.

Corporate Conscience In The Darkest Of Days: What Can Board Directors Do About Ukraine?
It's Not over Until It's over: The Perils Of Declaring Victory In Crisis Too soon
Chaos Leadership: When Does Global Crisis Turn Into Chaos and How Do we survive It?
Chaos Rules: 8 Ways to Navigate Through the Fog of Crisis
Crisis Leadership in Real Time: 8 Pandemic Best Practices
Great Crisis Management Is Counterintuitive
Communicating in Crisis: How to Build Trust in an Untrustworthy World
Forget the Hype: What Every Business leader Needs to Know About Artificial Intelligence Now

...read more»

What I Learned From Mickie Siebert: Put Your Head Down and Charge

Leadership, “Reputation Matters” Forbes, August 26, 2013

Mickie Siebert (aka Muriel) said, famously, when asked about the secret of her success: “I put my head down, and charge.”

Indomitable, irrepressible, fearless, salty, independent, and ultimately successful — the secrets of Mickie’s life are inspirational for both women and men leaders, both on and off of Wall Street. But, of course, it helps that she was such an early trailblazer for women in the all-male bastion of Wall Street, and that she charted a course that so many have followed, but so very few have succeeded at as well as she did. […read more]

Getting Out Of The Heat: 10 Ways For Leaders To Deal With An Angry Public

Leadership, “Reputation Matters” Forbes, July 19, 2013

Beyond 97 degree temperatures, there is another kind of heat that some leaders around the world are facing – and that is an increasingly angry public. Whether they are trying to perpetuate the legacy of the Arab Spring, their yoga pants are made of thinner-than-usual material, or they have been caught allowing their agents to spy on a good percentage of the population… leaders are being cut little slack by their constituents. This article offers ten tips on how to deal with an angry public […read more]

Leadership Under Attack — Escalating Crisis And Reputation Challenges In The Age Of Social Media

Leadership, “Reputation Matters” Forbes, July 16, 2013

Leadership of all kinds has been coming under unprecedented attack. But, Sometimes it TAKES a crisis to see who you really are. And get the word out. Organizations can use crisis to reaffirm who they are, what they stand for…in deed and word. They can become stronger, finer, more tested, more positively well known. But it is real engagement that is needed. It does not, usually, handle itself. [read more]

When Is An Apology NOT An Apology? New Lessons From Abercrombie & Fitch

Leadership, “Reputation Matters” Forbes, May 17, 2013

You know when your spouse does something really bad, and knows he or she needs to apologize, but doesn’t really want to? And you know how the way he puts it is often something like: “Oh, dear, I’m so sorry that you feel that way” or “it’s too bad that you have gotten so upset”? And you know how you feel after he says it – even angrier still.

An apology that is not an apology is enraging. It takes no responsibility for the action that prompted the apology. It has no sense of mea culpa, or remorse, but rather seems to transfer the blame to you – sorry YOU got upset, not sorry that I did something to upset you. In a marriage, too many of those, and you are headed to divorce court. In a friendship, that way lays “unfriending.”

And so, here we go again. Given the groundswell of anger that has escalated since my last column on Abercrombie & Fitch on Monday the 13th , and the rebirth of its CEO’s incendiary comments in an interview in Salon 7 years ago on not wanting the un-thin, the un-young, or the un-beautiful to wear A&F clothes, finally the company realized that they had to do something. […read more]

How A CEO Can Wreck A Brand In One Interview: Lessons From Abercrombie & Fitch Vs. Dove

Leadership, “Reputation Matters” Forbes, May 13, 2013

The power of a CEO to make – or break – a brand can never be overestimated – even in an interview that took place 7 years ago.

That is just what has happened in the case of Abercrombie & Fitch: an incredibly ill-advised interview that A&F CEO Mike Jeffries granted to Salon Magazine in 2006 has just found new life on the internet. And if his comments – including that he only wants the young, beautiful and thin to wear his clothes – were insensitive and politically incorrect THEN, today they are practically an invitation to riot. Certainly, they are causing a boycott in real time. […read more]

It Takes a Lot of Coughing to Go Viral — How I Reached My First 1,000 Twitter Followers

Leadership, “Reputation Matters” Forbes, April 15, 2013

Virality is the Holy Grail of Both Corporate and Personal Social Media.

We all want to fashion that one perfect tweet or post that will circumnavigate the globe in minutes or days, and will boost our number of followers and “klout” score to the stratosphere. We want to build our brand and reputation. But the public is fickle, and what captures its imagination, much less goes viral, one day might not the next. […read more]

Calling all Global CEOs — Have You Signed the UN Women’s Empowerment Principles Yet?

Leadership, “Reputation Matters” Forbes, March 11, 2013

The UN is putting its muscle behind changing the game for global women, and is asking companies around the world to follow suit.

There has been so much talk, but so little action – around women’s leadership, gender equality, and curtailing violence against women. This year, however, efforts seem to be more serious, possibly fueled on the humanitarian front by such horrendous examples of violence around the world, and on the business front by Catalyst’s latest report detailing just how badly women’s progress in business has stalled (for at least 7 years, on boards, in top leadership, and in the highest paying corporate jobs.) […read more]

Snowstorm Crisis Lessons: Eight Steps for Maintaining Trust During Natural Disasters

Leadership, “Reputation Matters” Forbes, February 8, 2013

Snowstorms and other natural disasters have been the undoing of mayors and governors for decades.

From Michael Dukakis, governor of Massachusetts in the ’70s and ’80s, to Michael Bloomberg’s absence in a December 2011 snowstorm, when municipal leaders don’t anticipate, lead through, and follow up immediately after storm crises, their reputations can take severe hits.

Responsibility without authority is one of the worst situations a leader can face, they say in the military. And, if you think about it, snowstorms and other acts of God are the epitome of responsibility without authority. The leader has responsibility, but a lot of the authority is in the hands of nature.

How can leaders prove their mettle – or salt – as Blizzard Nemo hits today, and over the weekend? Here are eight suggestions, culled from years of crisis (man-made and God-made) advisory work. […read more]

Reputation Trumps All — Define Your Brand and Live It in the New Year, and Beyond

Reputation Matters, Forbes, January 2, 2013

After a year of such spectacular reputation failures, it’s about time that we all paid some concerted attention to our own reputations, both personal and corporate.

Whether it was Joe Paterno, Apple Maps, or Congress acting irresponsibly in the face of a “fiscal cliff,” when a person or organization acts inconsistently with their established “brand,” what they have promised, or how the world sees them, that tarnish doesn’t wear off quickly. In fact it can redefine them because today as always, reputation trumps all. […read more]

The Aftermath — Business Communication Rules for Recovery from Hurricane Sandy

Reputation Matters, Forbes, October 31, 2012

11 Rules for Communication in the Aftermath of Crisis — Davia’s latest Forbes piece for her column, Reputation Matters.

How you recover, and how you communicate during recovery – yours and others’ – can set the stage for business continuity, future growth, and customer and employee loyalty, or the exact opposite.

If you don’t mention it, you appear heartless; if you give in to it, you appear weak. That is the fine line that each one of us faces in communicating with colleagues, customers, bosses, vendors, friends and family, in the aftermath of historic hurricane Sandy – and after every major national disaster. Here are 11 suggestions that can help. […read more]

White Papers»

"Reputation Matters" White Papers seek to offer deeper insight on a wide range of topics we help clients address.

Corporate Conscience In The Darkest Of Days: What Can Board Directors Do About Ukraine?
It's Not over Until It's over: The Perils Of Declaring Victory In Crisis Too soon
Chaos Leadership: When Does Global Crisis Turn Into Chaos and How Do we survive It?
Chaos Rules: 8 Ways to Navigate Through the Fog of Crisis
Crisis Leadership in Real Time: 8 Pandemic Best Practices
Great Crisis Management Is Counterintuitive
Communicating in Crisis: How to Build Trust in an Untrustworthy World
Forget the Hype: What Every Business leader Needs to Know About Artificial Intelligence Now

...read more»