One afternoon, Victor, the chair of my agency’s consumer product’s group, popped into my office. He couldn’t wait to tell me about a major media profile he had just successfully placed for his specialty food client, the maker of a popular, Mexican hot sauce. Due to the magnitude of the publication, Victor insisted that I leverage the piece to secure his client even more publicity.
After verifying that Victor had client approval for the media frenzy that could potentially ensue, I called upon one of my team members, Janet, to assist me with the strategy.
Without hesitation, Janet and I eagerly went to work drafting a pitches, assembling a media list, and scheduling calls with industry and business reporters. It seemed as though everything was falling into its proper place.
Not two hours after his client profile published, Victor burst through my office doors. He looked as though he had been hit by a freight train. His face was crimson red, his blood boiling. The only audible words out of his mouth were, “I want that b!t@h fired immediately!” referring to Janet.
Caught totally off guard and after many attempts to calm him, I eventually learned that Victor’s client had fired him for not getting proper approval to publicize certain aspects of their business. Not only would this termination result in a loss of significant revenue to the agency, but also embarrassment among Victor’s peers.
Although Janet and I had performed our duties as instructed, Victor sought out a scapegoat. His pre-existing condition, in this case an inflated ego, prevented him from taking full responsibility for his actions. Instead, he chose to destroy Janet, a very competent PR professional who had been a loyal employee.
Similar to Victor, many professionals have personal branding-related challenges or pre-existing conditions. A sense of self-entitlement, a willingness to shift undue blame, and excuses for obnoxious behavior are but a few of the conditions that, when triggered, make the Victors of an organization act in a manner that is unbecoming of any professional. The behavior becomes a roadblock from achieving a strong, personal brand; it also alters the focus from one’s area of expertise to their unpleasant bedside manner.
Brand-conscious individuals and organizations shouldn’t surrender to pre-existing conditions. When they surface, handle and resolve them quickly as to avoid any long-term side effects.
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Jonathan points out a very delicate issue in marketing. Since most clients prefer not to have their business “on the street,” marketing key victories may require greater subtlety than Victor exhibited. Certainly, scapegoating is just plain wrong. But dumb marketing like Victor’s is also inexcusable. Janet could just as effectively secured Victor a prime slot in an industry conference or publication where he could have marketed his victory discreetly with no ill client effects. Victor failed to harness the power of his marketing team and, to me, that’s the greater failing.
Fresh on my mind is JFK’s address to America following the botched-up Bay of Pigs (I just finished watching the Kennedy mini series). Contrary to the advice of his cabinet, JFK owned his mistake and his approval rating shot-up to 80%. Industry leaders and high performers are still fallible. By owning their mistakes as opposed to finding a scapegoat, they can endear people to themselves more than if they were to put on a continuous, flawless face.
Scapegoats or blaming someone else is all too prevalent in our society. What most people don’t realize is that if they owned up to their mistakes, not only would they be forgiven– but their reputation would be even better than it was before making a mistake! I also believe someone’s “trust factor” would be greatly enhanced in the future, if they admitted their mistake in the present. But when it comes to politics, I have zero expectation that will happen.
Throwing anyone under the bus does nothing for your brand. I had a similar situation at a firm. The partner owned up that in his excitement he had not received the necessary approvals from the client. We then discussed a course of reputation repair with the client. Happy to say that while they did not hand out any new business for a while, our consistency in service out weighed the one mistake, and that lawyer and firm are now counsel of record on many matters.
This story is all too common these days. How many public figures, once evidence of their bad behavior is first leaked, readily admit their mistake/crime and own up? Almost none. Victor had a scapegoat, buy others seem to hope that somehow mistresses, children out of wedlock or insider trading will vanish with enough cash or time. Not so. Thanks for another stellar blog entry. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if adults behaved like adults, and not pampered children?
Absolutely, nothing brands a person more deeply and irrevocably than behavior. As with people like Victor, you can be decent 99% of the time, but that one moment of ego-driven boorishness is like a tattoo. No one who’s seen it will forget it, and the removal process – if it manages to be successful – will be long and painful. Thank you, Jonathan, for including me as a subscriber to this insightful and intelligent blog. I’m looking forward to reading many of the archived pieces.