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.
You Can Eradicate Sexual Harassment in Your Organization
Dean Rotbart, Monday Morning Radio, June 10, 2018
To kick of his 7th year of hosting Monday Morning Radio, award-winning journalist Dean Rotbart invited back one of his most popular all-time guests, Davia Temin, founder & CEO of crisis management firm Temin and Company, to talk about a very hot button issue in America at the moment: sexual harassment.
To listen to the interview, CLICK HERE.
Tax-Law Typo Risks Bankrupting #MeToo Victims Without GOP Fix
Jeff Green and Sahil Kapur, Bloomberg, June 5, 2018
Republicans are considering a fix to a provision in their new tax law that they acknowledge could inadvertently penalize victims of sexual harassment in the workplace. But congressional gridlock before midterm elections in November means there’s no guarantee that the problem will be corrected quickly, if at all.
President Donald Trump’s tax overhaul eliminates the deduction companies used to be able to take when they settled sexual harassment cases and included non-disclosure agreements, which generally keep details secret as a condition of the payout.
So far, about 300 executives and other high profile leaders, mostly men, have been accused of sexual harassment or other improper behavior related to the so-called #MeToo movement, according to New York crisis counseling company Temin & Co., based on an ongoing count of actions pulled from media coverage and other public information. That doesn’t include actions taken that weren’t made public, according to Temin. […read more]
Crisis of the Week: Gynecologist’s Actions Bring Down USC’s President
Ben DiPietro, The Wall Street Journal’s Risk & Compliance Journal, June 4, 2018
University of Southern California President C.L. Max Nikias agreed to step down late last month, just over a week after allegations were made public that a longtime gynecologist at the school’s student-health center had sexually abused patients.
Mr. Nikias’ decision came after a letter signed by 200 tenured USC professors called on him to resign. It followed a Los Angeles Times report detailing accusations that university gynecologist George Tyndall for decades conducted improper pelvic exams on female students and made inappropriate comments.
A May 25 statement from the university’s executive committee of the Board of Trustees said the committee and Mr. Nikias “agreed to begin an orderly transition and commence the process of selecting a new president.”
A May 21 statement from university Provost Michael Quick denied university leadership knew of the doctor’s improper behavior, stating: “It is true that our system failed, but it is important that you know that this claim of a cover-up if patently false.” Prior to that, the university issued statements about the matter from Mr. Nikias on May 18 and May 15, and statements from other university officials on May 15 and May 16. University administrators also are contacting students.
Three crisis-management experts evaluate the university’s publicly released statements.
Davia Temin, president and chief executive, Temin and Co.: “USC’s formal responses…ring curiously hollow. One of the worst aspects of some crisis responses being edited by lawyers is they can have a pulled-back, wordsmithed, bloodless quality, borne from fear of being quoted in future lawsuits. They appear to defend when they should apologize and make common cause with victims. So at the very moment USC needed to show itself to be trustworthy, honest and authentic and devastated, its statements made them appear otherwise.
“No crisis response needs to be more emotionally resonant, believable, and true than from a college or university. After all, the crisis almost always has something to do with young people, whose welfare the school is entrusted with protecting. I’ve written hundreds of such responses. The effort needed to show real humanity, corrective action, and trustworthiness, even when the facts are sketchy or ambiguous. USC’s statements do not universally exhibit such effort.
“The only statement that really fit the bill is of USC’s new board chairman, Rick Caruso, in his [May 25] announcement. That quote speaks compellingly of his personal outrage and commitment.”
To read the full article, CLICK HERE.
Crisis of the Week: Gynecologist’s Actions Bring Down USC’s President
Ben DiPietro, The Wall Street Journal’s Risk & Compliance Journal, June 4, 2018
University of Southern California President C.L. Max Nikias agreed to step down late last month, just over a week after allegations were made public that a longtime gynecologist at the school’s student-health center had sexually abused patients. Mr. Nikias’ decision came after a letter signed by 200 tenured USC professors called on him to resign.
A May 21 statement from university Provost Michael Quick denied university leadership knew of the doctor’s improper behavior, stating: “It is true that our system failed, but it is important that you know that this claim of a cover-up if patently false.” Prior to that, the university issued statements about the matter from Mr. Nikias on May 18 and May 15, and statements from other university officials on May 15 and May 16. University administrators also are contacting students.
Three crisis-management experts evaluate the university’s publicly released statements.
“USC’s formal responses…ring curiously hollow,” said Davia Temin. “One of the worst aspects of some crisis responses being edited by lawyers is they can have a pulled-back, wordsmithed, bloodless quality, borne from fear of being quoted in future lawsuits. They appear to defend when they should apologize and make common cause with victims. So at the very moment USC needed to show itself to be trustworthy, honest and authentic and devastated, its statements made them appear otherwise.” […read more]
5/31/18: Ambien, Roseanne and company reputation
Eve Tahmincioglu, Directors & Boards, May 31, 2018
This week the news has been dominated by a racist tweet shared by TV sitcom star Roseanne Barr. And in an attempt to shift blame, Barr blamed the drug she claimed she was taking, Ambien. In a rare move, the Ambien’s manufacturer, Sanofi, took to social media with its own tweet:
Should companies weigh in on things like this? Should such decisions be a board issue?
“I think the statement by Sanofi ranks as the all-time best corporate quote/tweet of the century,” says Davia Temin. “They distinguished their brand and their company in the mind of the public for all eternity, and did the right thing to boot. A master stroke.” […read more]
The ‘Roseanne’ reaction: What protections does the First Amendment actually afford?
John Enger, MPR News, May 30, 2018
In the small hours of Tuesday morning, comedian and TV star Roseanne Barr crafted a tweet that was widely seen as hateful and racist. Barr has since apologized for her tweet, and claimed she was using the sleeping drug Ambien when she wrote it.
Davia Temin says Barr is beyond hope. “I believe in the comeback,” she said. “This is America. We all do. Roseanne is not coming back. This tweet was egregious enough, there’s no coming back from that.” […read more]
Why You Should Serve on a Board Now
Jan Alexander, Robb Report’s Muse, May 29, 2018
If you follow the news of workplace sexual misconduct—and who doesn’t these days?—you’ve no doubt heard that investors in any number of companies are clamoring for more women on the board of directors. There are two great reasons for highly accomplished women to serve on the boards of corporations both large and small. One reason is that they need you—and not just because of Me Too. The other reason to serve on a board is that the experience will do a lot for your professional savvy, even when you’re at the top of your game, which you pretty much have to be.
Charges of sexual harassment or any kind of discrimination are a risk to a company’s reputation and therefore its shareholder value—and women board members and executives are the best assurance against a “wink-wink, nod-nod” culture, as Davia Temin puts it. Temin has been advising corporations about how to avoid becoming “Weinstein Co. 2.0“, but she says boards also need women because “some of the smartest and most thoughtful governance is being done by companies that have more women on their boards.” […read more]
Paying for Trump Access Backfires Against Boards
Tony Chapelle, Agenda, May 18, 2018
Details continue to emerge about consulting deals that Donald Trump’s personal attorney Michael Cohen sought after the 2016 election in return for perspective on the incoming president’s viewpoints. As the plot twists get more labyrinthine, some governance observers say companies that paid Cohen could suffer more reputational damage in the weeks ahead.
Still, even with the payments out in the open, the companies — and boards, by extension — have faced questions about flat-footed responses to the payments’ disclosures, and why the companies made internal changes only after the payments were made public.
“These companies tended to get their responses correct the second time, not the first,” explains Davia Temin, who heads a public relations and crisis management firm, Temin and Company. “By now, you’d think they’d get it right the first time. Own it, apologize, put in fixes and then move forward quickly.” […read more]
How The Reputation Risk Of #MeToo Is Forcing Businesses To Reevaluate Their Corporate Culture
Leadership, “Reputation Matters,” Forbes, May 14, 2018
Real #MeToo incidents in the workplace aren’t happening in a vacuum. Whether they are the most egregious examples of sexual harassment and abuse, or more subtle acts of unconscious bias, they all happen within a culture that somehow sanctions them.
New Examination of Corporate Culture
That is why the reputational risks of #MeToo (we calculate that since the first Bill Cosby trial, 298 high-profile executives have been let go in the US because of sexual improprieties), as well as escalating global calls for gender equity, are sparking a whole new examination of corporate and organizational culture. What elements of culture enable abuse, or create a toxic work environment, and what elements preclude them? […read more]
The ‘Force Of Nature’ Behind Getting Women On Boards
Leadership, “Reputation Matters,” Forbes, May 10, 2018
Impact — outsized, world-changing impact — that is the legacy of Susan Stautberg, the co-founder, Chair Emeritus and retiring CEO of WomenCorporateDirectors, honored last evening at WCD’s 2018 Visionary Awards Ceremony.
The Most Powerful Women in the World
WCD was the first organization for women sitting on corporate boards, arguably the most powerful group of women in the world. A combination of best-practices institute and lobbying organization urging boards to raise their percentage of women directors, this community of trust has become a unique refuge for a global group of women who are changing the way the world does business.
And this includes how boards are becoming more activist, and less tolerant of #metoo behavior, or any kinds of harassment within their organizations. It appears from anecdotal evidence at least that it is the women board directors who are sparking changed attitudes on their boards, and within their companies. […read more]