TAKE THE LEAD prepares, develops, inspires and propels women to take their fair and equal share of leadership positions across all sectors by 2025. Here, a provocative piece by Michele Weldon: Do you have what it takes to maintain control in a severe crisis? Southwest Airlines pilot Tammie Jo Shults, a veteran pilot of three […]
From CommPro, written by Arthur Solomon, Public Relations Consultant: Depending upon which dictionary you use, a weasel will be defined as “sneaky or untrustworthy,” (Meriram-Webster); “achieve something by use of cunning or deceit,” (Oxford Living Dictionaries); or “a word used “to temper the forthrightness of a statement; that makes one’s views equivocal, misleading or confusing,” (Dictionary.com). Perhaps […]
From New York Times staff writer Michael Grynbaum: The toppling of Roseanne Barr — from her racist late-night tweet to the early-morning backlash and ABC’s axing of her highly rated show — took less than 12 hours. That is the equivalent of hyperspeed for businesses and brands that are accustomed to taking their time when […]
[By Thom Fladung, Hennes Communications] Tell the truth. Tell it all. Tell it first. Tell it fast. Tell it on “Hard Knocks.” OK, that last one about HBO’s Emmy Award-winning inside look at a National Football League team’s training camp is not one of our fundamental principles at Hennes Communications when we’re working with clients […]
From Michelle Weldon, writing in Take the Lead: Gender may or not play a role in how a leader handles a crisis, but as a women leader, you can decide how you will behave. And it is likely you will have a crisis on your hands eventually. “A disaster is a moment of truth for […]
[By Nora Jacobs, Hennes Communications] Starbucks is certainly no stranger to controversy. Past dust-ups include its “war on Christmas,” the year the company issued a simple red cup for the holidays, and the campaign designed to improve race relations built on asking baristas to write “RaceTogether” on coffee cups. Both of those efforts were minuscule […]
[By Stephanie York, JD, Hennes Communications] “What were they thinking?” That’s what we all ask when a big scandal unfolds, such as Penn State, Enron, Watergate and most recently, the Michigan State sex abuse scandal. Those on the outside are left scratching their heads, wondering how those huge institutions got so deep and so far […]
[By Nora Jacobs, Hennes Communications] It is a sad commentary on our times, but more and more of our work now involves helping clients who are dealing with the aftermath of misbehavior among their leadership ranks. Accusations of sexual misconduct, charges of criminal behavior, questionable ethical behavior and significant violations of organizational policies can all […]
[by Howard Fencl, Hennes Communications] Don’t give me your phony grief. Don’t pawn off insincere, off-the-shelf template language just because you feel your organization must say something – anything – after a tragedy. Another school shooting? “Thoughts and prayers.” Environmental catastrophe? “Thoughts and prayers.” Industrial fatality? Well, you get it. And you’ve seen it recited […]
From Buzzfeed: “What happens when anyone can make it appear as if anything has happened, regardless of whether or not it did?” technologist Aviv Ovadya warns. In mid-2016, Aviv Ovadya realized there was something fundamentally wrong with the internet — so wrong that he abandoned his work and sounded an alarm. A few weeks before the 2016 election, […]