Leadership Risk Management Recommendation and Interesting Public Comments of the Week
Interesting public comments of the week, insights of the week
Worth wrestling with, at least occasionally, in our minds:
“It’s natural to be drawn to those whose views and skills are harmonious with our own, but the danger is that when those are the only options, we’re caught in an echo chamber, have an imbalance of skills, and can be blindsided by a reaction we never saw coming.
Are you a leader who surrounds (oneself) with “yes” people?
Are you a manager who counts on (your) like-minded team for advice?
Or do you tend to hire people who share your strengths?
Amy Blaschka
Commentary, "You Complete Me" on her Substack newsletter, Illuminate Me
Think about the value of what she’s saying here. These are intelligent questions Blaschka is suggesting we ask ourselves and maybe, ask people around us to ask themselves.
Echo chambers feel comfortable, we don’t always recognize what we don’t know and the skill proficiency we might lack or the blind spots we have, which can lead, as Blaschka says, being “blindsided.” Those life hits hurt too, us and sometimes, other people we care about in our professional and personal lives.
Our reputation can also suffer from this errors that could have been identified and corrected.
Interesting Comments of the Week:
“I’m not a victim."
Comedian Chris Rock in response to being questioned about slapped by Will Smith. Is this worthy of great respect or is Rock, who was victimized by Smith, putting on a brave face and wanting to move past the incident?
“It is inconceivable that I would EVER shove a woman. Inconceivable. Never happen. Would never intentionally do something like that. Also, don’t remember ever apologizing to her for something I didn’t do. I’d remember that.”
Former White House Chief of Staff John Kelly responding to Jared Kushner’s claims that Kelly shoved Ivanka Trump out the way while he walked down a hallway. Did Kelly shove her? He says it's "inconceivable." The reports of an apology, reportedly a meek one, are also not true, Kelly adds.
Kelly’s response seems very strange. He’s speaking around the matter as if to distance himself from it. If Kushner’s and Ivanka’s claims are not factual, Kelly still has a reputation issue because of the accusation and the court of public opinion. If Kelly committed the act, he has an even bigger problem of reputation to address and denying what happened is a fool’s beginning.
"In Monday's conversation about Turning Point USA, I put the young people at the conference in the same category as the protesters outside, and I don't like it when people make assumptions about me. And it's not any better when I make assumptions about other people, which I did. So my bad, I'm sorry."
‘The View’ host Whoopi Goldberg
Apologizing for linking Turning Point USA to Neo-Nazis
Whoopi explained herself with apparent sincerity. The finish, as in the apology, could have been better than, “So my bad, I’m sorry.” Yet Goldberg does seem to empathize, from her own experiences. Regret? I think it's there. She at least addressed the error and conviction of her comment with humility.
"POTUS working while having COVID infection epitomizes white supremacy urgency in the workplace. Sets a bad example for everyone that he cannot rest. COVID infection is serious, symptoms debilitating for many, and ppl should take time off without working through it.”
Dr. Kim Sue
Yale Medical Professor and physician, criticizing President Biden for working while infected with COVID-19. Dr. Sue clearly means well if you stop and think about her intent yet the dog whistle use of “white supremacy urgency,” not her best use of communication.
She’s going to take some reputation hits over that one and those are going to be self-inflicted wounds. I have not yet learned if Dr. Sue has commented about her choice of labeling or if she regrets it.
There will likely not be any groundswell calling for her to be disciplined or terminated there should there be, yet that type of communication is not helpful to making an effective point and influencing or persuading desired positive change of behavior.
Observation and Recommendation:
The quote below is from an article I read this week that illustrates exactly why some intelligent foresight and precision in communication are more important than we often realize:
"When I saw [the original quote] written out, it kind of made my stomach drop a little bit because I was like, ‘Oh, god, here we go. People are going to blow this up..."
#perception #judgment #clarityofcommunication
Valuable insights for the week
“In theory” is not always smart thinking when it comes to reputation
Here’s the link to as to why.Elon Musk is being sued by a Tesla stockholder. Musk is used to being the defendant in legal cases. This time, he should realize the value of the complaint against him.
More intel analysis and articles that could interest you or people you know.
Imagine being wrongly convicted of murder and spending 20 years in prison. Mind boggling. The man, now free, is suing New York City for $40 million. What’s next? I talked to attorney Jamie White about it and what the legal response could look like.
Two new education education offerings:
Reputation Security and Reputation Trauma Resilience
Consulting regarding a specific important or critical situation regarding reputation
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Professional Opinion — researched, analyzed and presented in verbal and writing.
Michael Toebe is the creator of Reputation Notes and founder and reputation specialist at Reputation Quality, a practice that serves and helps successful individuals and organizations in further building reputation as an asset and when necessary, ethically and successfully protecting, restoring and reconstructing it.
NOTE: if you would like to be interviewed for the newsletter and can talk about matters of reputation, you can contact me at Michael.Toebe@Reputation-Quality.com