Thought Leadership–Miscellaneous Articles
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What Would Bezos Do?
Davia Temin, Directors & Boards, February 11, 2019
Lessons for boards on how unexpected boldness sometimes wins the day
“If in my position I can’t stand up to this kind of extortion, how many people can?”
With those words, written in a Medium blog post last week announcing that he would not give in to extortion by American Media LLC (AMI) and its publication the National Enquirer, Jeff Bezos set off a firestorm, and charted a course that few CEOs or boards have equaled.
What the founder of Amazon, and the richest man in the world, did was show us how the head of a public company could put it all on the line to stand up to bullies. “Courage comes first,” he essentially told us, no matter what the personal or professional cost.
And apparently his prestigious board agreed. […read more]
Getting Intelligent About Artificial Intelligence: 6 Ways Executives Can Start
Davia Temin, Bruce Molloy, Jayanth Kolla, Leadership, “Reputation Matters,” Forbes, December 8, 2017
This past June, Fortune Magazine asked all the CEOs of the Fortune 500 what they believed the biggest challenge facing their companies was. Their biggest concern for 2017: “The rapid pace of technological change” said 73% of those polled, up from 64% in 2016. Cyber security came in only a far second, at 61%, even after all the mega hacks of the past year.
So, what does “technological change” entail? For almost all Fortune 500 CEOs, it means, in part, artificial intelligence. And, as we wrote in our piece yesterday on Forbes.com, “Forget The Hype: What Every Business Leader Needs To Know About Artificial Intelligence Now,” AI is on the lips of almost every global CEO and Board of Directors.
But apart from the Big 8 technology companies – Google, Facebook, Microsoft, Amazon, IBM, Baidu, Tencent, and Alibaba – business leaders, especially of earlier generations, may feel they don’t know enough about AI to make informed decisions.
We made a series of 6 suggestions of how board members and C-suite executives can begin to understand this brave new world of AI, Machine Learning, and Deep Learning. And, after being asked by a number of people to break that list out for them, we include it, slightly modified, here. […read more]
Forging Thought Leadership into a Titanium-Strong Marketing Tool
Dean Rotbart, Monday Morning Radio, March 23, 2015
This week on Monday Morning Radio, Davia Temin tells listeners how to forge thought leadership and reputation management into titanium-strong marketing tools – both for yourself, and for your company or products.
Davia is interviewed by Dean Rotbart, co-host of Business Unconventional, the one-hour radio newsmagazine that aired weekly on News/Talk 710 KNUS AM in Denver. […read more]
To listen to the full article, click below.
To download the podcast from iTunes, Click Here.
The Steak not the Sizzle — Women and Power; Women and Communications
CommPRO, March 7, 2016
As we all honor International Women’s Day in our own way, I’d like to turn for a moment to the topic of the growing power of women around the world, especially as communications becomes a core component of leadership, not just an add-on.
For so long, women both in the US and globally, if they chose to or had to work, only found jobs in “women-acceptable” professions, such as teaching, nursing, assisting, events, HR, PR, and communications. Far from being at the nexus of power, acclaim and remuneration, women were related to supporting, or decorative, roles.
Women have always been seen as strong — and academic research bears this out — in communications skills. Thus women have entered the field in large numbers. But unfortunately communications historically has been seen as one of those ancillary professions that supported power, but did not exert it. […read more]
Staying Ahead of the Game: The Steps to Effective Crisis Communications Planning
PR Newswire, March 12, 2015
Don’t wait for a crisis to hit before considering your communications strategy. Getting caught off guard can mean the difference between success and failure, especially if your competitors are quick to respond. Take action today to ensure tomorrow’s stability.
View PR Newswire’s on-demand webinar to obtain the tips and tools needed to craft an effective crisis plan. Davia Temin, CEO, Temin & Co. and Colleen Pizarev, VP, Communications Strategies, PR Newswire discuss: creating a crisis plan and messaging effectively; the role of boards in crisis; listening best practices and your social media response. […read more]
View the slides:
Women and Power: Seven Ways Successful Women Survive
American Banker, November 5, 2014
Two steps forward, one step back; one step forward, two steps back: for many women who have ascended the rungs of the financial industry, it seems that our progress has stalled out since 2008, despite making undeniable strides over the prior three decades. Absolute numbers have not moved or have gone backwards, doors continue to revolve, and we seem to be discussing the same issues publicly over and over again, while more compelling issues are left unaddressed.
But evolving research is shedding new light on power, gender differences regarding the use of power, and how powerful women can succeed in complex organizations.
Some of these insights are not positive or politically correct, but they do help explain gender gaps in finance and other industries. […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]
Your Foundation in Crisis: Will You Be Ready?
Davia Temin, Philanthropy New York, June 18, 2013
Crisis is turning into the “new normal” for most organizations and corporations in this post-recession era. And foundations are as vulnerable and prone to crisis as public companies and universities, particularly in the age of social media. In this piece for Philanthropy New York’s Smart Assets blog, Davia Temin writes about the recent “crisis case” seminar she led for foundation executives. […read more]
What Does it Take to be Resilient?
Suzanne Oaks, Corporate Board Member, May 9, 2013
Resilience and the boardroom: what does it take to think long-term in a world focused on quarterly results? WomenCorporateDirectors Global Institute challenges director thinking on earnings reports, consumer behavior, innovation, crisis management, and a host of global issues facing companies today. […read more]
What Boards Must Know About Social Media
Davia Temin, The Corporate Board, May/June 2012
Someone posts a harsh item about your company on Twitter. The comment is picked up and amplified through other online venues, and the company’s stock prices take a fall—all within hours. Today’s world of social media is one where the most obscure person, company or product can overnight become a global trend, or a global villain. Is your board aware of the company’s social media strategy? For that matter, are you as a director up to speed on the new social media world?
In this age of social media, companies of all kinds find themselves at the end of the “command and control” model of leadership. Top-down communications, including those from the C-suite and the boardroom, have lost their primacy.
Today, with blogs, v-logs, Twitter, Facebook, Pintrest and social media of all kinds, everyone has a voice. More to the point, anyone can move markets if his or her voice catches on with the public.
Employees have a voice—including the employee that management fired yesterday. Your “like’rs” have a voice; your dislikers have a voice too (including all of the “I hate xx company” websites, and Facebook-facilitated boycotts). Your competitors have a voice, your shareholders have a voice, and you, as board members, have a voice as well. However, amid the cacophony, it is now exponentially more difficult to make the messages you and your company wish to convey heard.
Especially for the board, knowing how to communicate in social media (and when it is or is not appropriate) is crucial. A board’s workings are historically private and confidential, and a board tends to be heard from only when announcing a new CEO or in a serious corporate crisis.
If you’d like to read the full article, please click here (pdf).»
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"Reputation Matters" White Papers seek to offer deeper insight on a wide range of topics we help clients address.