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.
Elon Musk got bored — and shareholders took the hit
Jena McGregor, The Washington Post, May 4, 2018
Elon Musk may have said what many frustrated chief executives — eager to talk about big visions or new strategies rather than answer questions about capital expenditures — dream of saying in response to financial analysts’ wordy questions: You’re boring. Your questions are dull. Next.
But that doesn’t mean they say it — or would ever be advised to. Yet in Tesla’s epic quarterly earnings call Wednesday, Musk did just that.
Even if Musk is known for his unconventional approach, that doesn’t mean he has to be that way in every circumstance, said Davia Temin, a communications and management coach on leadership issues.
“If your personal brand is as an iconoclast, there’s a tendency to want to be seen as an iconoclast on everything, but that’s not what really works,” she said. “You want your product to be the thing that stands out. Not your demeanor on an earnings call.” […read more]
Boy Scouts to Drop ‘Boy’ From Name of Main Scouting Program
Valerie Bauerlein, The Wall Street Journal, May 2, 2018
The Boy Scouts of America is changing the name of its marquee scouting program to reflect last fall’s historic decision to include girls. The Boy Scouts program for children aged 11 to 17 will lose the “boy” and be renamed Scouts BSA, effective in February of next year.
The rebranding announced Wednesday sets the century-old organization in direct competition with the Girl Scouts of the USA for a membership base that has been dwindling for decades.
Girl Scout alumna and volunteer Davia Temin said the organization must fight back aggressively against attempts to poach members. “They are executing on a hostile takeover, not just for the organization, for the girls of America.” […read more]
#MeToo Now Means Business
Avivah Wittenberg-Cox, Forbes #BigBusiness, April 30, 2018
Everyone asked whether the #MeToo movement storming through the political and media worlds would spread into business. Nike has explosively answered. A brand admired for its women’s empowerment messages, diversity and corporate social responsibility has just delivered a cautionary tale of leaders contradicting the corporate line. Over the past month, the company has fired half a dozen male senior executives for “conduct inconsistent with Nike’s core values and against our code of conduct.”
Not surprising that a group of Nike employees took things into their own hands and invited colleagues to respond to a survey about sexual harassment. Since the results were delivered to the CEO in March, six senior executives have left or soon will. Nike will now be in full crisis mode and will want to proactively execute the 15-point plan laid out by crisis management expert Davia Temin. […read more]
Hawaii’s Investment Chief Got Fired. Then the Gossip Started.
Leanna Orr, Institutional Investor, April 23, 2018
Firing the chief investment officer was the final order of business at the Hawaii pension board’s regular meeting on February 12. CIO Vijoy Chattergy was blindsided, insiders say. After seven years with the organization, Chattergy was told by his bosses that Monday that he was done, effective immediately.
When the news broke, people were just asking, ‘What happened? What did he do?'” By the time Chattergy’s ouster was hot industry gossip coast to coast — that is, within days — it was no longer a mystery. The narrative took hold that Chattergy had blown up Hawaii’s pension fund with a risky bet turned bad, then lost his job over it.
ERS executive director Thomas Williams initially refused to discuss the situation, though ultimately he notified the staff by email. Williams said what an organization’s leader should after executive upheaval, according to crisis PR consultant Davia Temin. He just did it a month too late.
“People are let go all the time,” says Temin, who reviewed the timeline and the documents associated with Chattergy’s ouster. “Whether the reasons are pretty benign or more egregious, the best practice is to act with the most elegance possible. And that means you allow someone their dignity as they leave,” she notes. “You don’t malign them or allow them to be maligned by doing and saying nothing, by keeping it a mystery. People will fill in that huge void with something far worse than reality — it’s human nature.” […read more]
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]