Thought Leadership

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»

Specialists in marketing through ideas, information, and insight, Temin and Company turns clients’ intellectual capital into true thought leadership.

We also seek to practice what we preach.

Temin and Company’s own thought leadership includes white papers, yearly client letters and podcasts, published articles, a Forbes.com column – Reputation Matters, Huffington Post and American Banker articles, and appearances in other news articles and broadcasts.

Further, Davia Temin is a frequent public speaker and moderator – for clients, their own client events, and their “high potential” training programs. She also presents regularly at CEO conferences, and has developed a range of “Crisis Game” role play simulations to prepare CEOs, Boards, and client companies for real-life crisis situations.

Don’t Ignore Your Best Co-Branding Opportunity — Your Employees: #1 Of ’10 More Don’ts Of Corporate Social Media’

Leadership, “Reputation Matters” Forbes, November 20, 2013

We all know employees can be both brand ambassadors and brand detractors. But what we haven’t wrapped our heads around is that they are also our most important co-branding opportunity. This is #1 in our series of “10 More Don’ts of Corporate Social Media,” introduced yesterday.

Corporate co-branding is a marketing staple: Companies co-brand with one another (Apple + Nike; Betty Crocker + Hershey’s; Dell + Intel); for-profits co-brand with non-profits (Nestle + The Girl Scouts; Pampers + UNICEF; American Express, Apple, Converse, etc. + The Global Fund – RED); and all of the above co-brand with movies, music, and sports (Aston Martin + James Bond; PINK + NFL; Apple + U2).

But in this ever-evolving world of social media – where almost everyone is thinking about how to “brand” himself or herself personally over social media – organizations can leverage the trend as their biggest co-branding opportunity of all. In other words, since there is no stopping the personal branding efforts of employees on social media, if you can’t beat them, you might as well join them. […read more]

Introducing ’10 More Don’ts Of Corporate Social Media’

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

Every company, corporation, and organization is struggling to get its corporate social media right.

Boards are putting it on their agendas, as a reputational risk and opportunity. CEOs are puzzling over how to lead and evaluate their companies’ efforts, as well as debating what their own social media profile should be. Executive Committees are reviewing metrics and messaging, and still wondering which are meaningful. Human Resource Directors are competing for Chief Digital Officers from a small pool, without always knowing who will be good for their organizations – or what “good” really looks like. And Chief Marketing Officers are trying to be cutting edge and to add value, while juggling competing demands from all stakeholders – consumers, followers, shareholders, management, and an ever-fickle and sometimes malicious public.

And everyone is trying to figure out what the right “content” is, anyway. […read more]

When Brinksmanship Fails

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

“Edgework,” an old boyfriend used to call it. He meant taking risks right up to the edge of disaster, but staying just on the safe side of the edge.

In some situations, edgework is actually a lot of fun – the adrenaline flows, the body and mind are pumped, all senses are engaged, and you can then be a hero and pull the situation out of the fire at the very last minute. Innovative. Young. Sexy.

But, you know what…after a certain point, it isn’t fun anymore. It just is tiresome. And then it gets dangerous. As with any addiction, in order to get the same thrill, you have to take more and more chances, and get closer and closer to the edge. Until one day, you can go too far, and you can fall over – and die.

Sound familiar? So, this is where we are as a nation – at the death of brinksmanship. […read more]

How NOT To Handle A Crisis: XO Communications’ Monumental Fail

Leadership, “Reputation Matters” Forbes, September 7, 2013

We’re a small business. They tell us that we are the backbone of the American economy. What do we need to compete and win at this challenging moment in time? (And they are all challenging of course.) Wonderful, smart people? Check. A valuable, viable business proposition and a record of success? Check. A profound care for our clients and an indefatigable work ethic? Check. A great website, superb intellectual capital, a highly responsive, real-time communications strategy? Check, check, check.

And a reliable, customer-friendly Internet Service Provider to host our email and point folks to our website? NO CHECK!

In fact, our ISP — one that specializes in small businesses — has had three systemic outages in 2 months, leaving us — and a huge percentage of small businesses in America — high and dry.

XO Communications is breaking every crisis management rule in the book. […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]

Leadership Under Attack

Temin Client Letter

Temin and Company’s Summer Client Letter – just issued – focuses on: Leadership Under Attack – Escalating Crisis and Reputation Challenges in the Age of Social Media. Please click below to see the entire letter, as sent this week to clients and friends.

If you would like to be on our mailing list, please contact us by email.

If you’d like to read the full article, please click here (pdf).»

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]

Boards Coming Up Short on Crisis Management

Marcy Syms and Davia Temin, Agenda, June 10, 2013

Corporate boards are facing crises of a magnitude never before seen, with even the most experienced board directors finding themselves ill-prepared for crisis. Therefore, how boards respond to such events speaks volumes about the character and culture of the organizations they lead. In this Agenda article, Davia Temin – along with co-author Marcy Syms, former CEO of Syms Corporation – outlines several steps boards can take to set the right tone for management and help mitigate risk when crisis hits.

If you’d like to read the full article, please click here (pdf).»

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»