MEMO TO FRIENDS AND CLIENTS
The winning BIMBO is from March 12, but came to us this month. “We don’t see any pressure on liquidity,” said Bear Stearns, Chief Executive Officer Alan Schwartz, on CNBC. (You all know the results. Good-bye, Bear. If anyone wanted an example of how communication – a supposed soft skill – can have real impact, this is it.)
Business Week, “Bailing Out of Bear,” April 21, 2008
RUNNER-UP
“I wouldn’t describe that as a crisis,” said Thabo Mbeki, South African President, about the escalating problems following the election in Zimbabwe. (With thug leader Robert Mugabe sitting on the election results and sending police to attack opposition political leaders, it’s hard to think what else to call it. Mbeki said, “It’s a normal electoral process in Zimbabwe.” Aren’t we glad we live in the U.S.?)
The New York Times, “South African Leader calls Zimbabwe Plight ‘Normal,’” April 13, 2008
“I’m not going to panic over one bad quarter,” said General Electric President Jeffrey Immelt when G.E. stock tanked after the company missed quarterly projects by a larger-than-expected amount. (Wait until the 2nd quarter to panic.)
The New York Times, “Patience Wears Thin: General Electric’s Shortfall Calls Credibility Into Question,” April 17, 2008
AND THE REST
“I won’t say it’s dead on arrival,” said Detroit City Council President, Ken Cockrel Jr., about beleaguered Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick’s proposal for a $300-million bond proposal. (If anyone has missed this soap opera in Detroit - far more imaginative than “Desperate Housewives” or “The Sopranos” - Mayor Kilpatrick was revealed in thousands of e-mails obtained by The Detroit Free Press to be lying under oath in litigation brought by two police officers. The city council signed an $8-million settlement with the officers without being aware of the compromising e-mails, and relations between the council and mayor have been radioactive. The mayor insists he’s being targeted because he’s African-American. Members of the Council, also African-American, disagree.)
Detroit Free Press, “Council’s duel with Mayor escalated,” April 10, 2008
“We are not the mean waterboarding company that people think we are,” said George Brunt, general counsel for Prosper Inc., a Utah company being sued by an employee for waterboarding an employee. (What could they be thinking? This is an excellent example of the ridiculous “team building” coaching out there, and an example of saying the wrong thing so the reporter has the wrong quote.)
The Dallas Morning News, “Taking it for the team: Boss’s motivational move turns into torture claims,” April 14, 2008
“This is not a case where we’re targeting thousands and thousands of people,” said Merrill Lynch Chief Executive Officer, John Thain, about the firm’s decision to eliminate 650 jobs. (Again, the wrong quote. Assuming the primary audience is affected employees, Thain should have said, “Our focus will be on helping our people find their next jobs and build on what they’ve learned here.”)
Business Week, “How Deep Will Wall Street Cut?” April 21, 2008
“I can tell you that I may be a lot of things, but I’m not dumb,” said Sen. Hillary Clinton in a debate when asked why she said she had run under sniper fire from her plane to safety on a trip to Bosnia in 1996. (Clinton’s claim that she simply remembered the incident incorrectly is not credible. She’s told the story too many times. It was obviously a great story invented to make a point. She should have owned up to that. She is far too smart to make this kind of error.)
The New York Times, “Clinton Employs Broad Attacks in a key debate,” April 17, 2008
“It’s not a rift,” said the director of the Australian zoo, founded by the father of the late “Crocodile Hunter” Steve Irwin, on his sudden departure. (Just an example of the wrong quote. He could have said something more positive and productive.)
msn.com, “Dad said ‘Crocodile Hunter’ Suffered,” April 7, 2008
WRONG THING TO SAY
“…it would have continued working if he hadn’t gone to that silly meeting,” said Howard Paster, head of WPP’s public relations division. Paster was referring to Clinton strategist and Burson-Marsteller Chief Executive Officer Mark Penn. The Clinton campaign has been calling for a halt to trade talks with Colombia at the same time that the South American country had hired Burson-Marsteller to help lobby for the free-trade pact. Penn advised Clinton and was at a high-level meeting to advise Colombia. (“Silly meeting?” A Fleishman-Hillard executive once said, “You cannot communicate your way out of a situation you have behaved your way into.” Mr. Paster apparently sees no conflict in the behavior. Whether Mr. Penn was at the meeting or not, Burson-Marsteller was in the untenable position of being on both sides of an issue. Some would call this unethical.)
Business Week, “A Spinmeister in Need of Spin,” April 21, 2008
“Everything will be in ashes, not just a sea of fire, if our advanced pre-emptive strike once begins,” said a North Korean military official in response to comments about strategy, should the North Koreans attack. (Anyone wonder if all the soft, fuzzy overtures are working?)
The New York Times, “North Korea Threatens to Reduce South Korea to ‘Ashes’ at Slighted Provocation,” March 31, 2008
“Deutsche Bank does not approve of any adult entertainments, and such expenditures will not be reimbursed,” said a memo from Germany’s largest bank, advising that visits to brothels and adult films in hotel rooms cannot be claimed as expenses. (As proof that sensational misdeeds have been repeated at other companies, the German news reports noted that at Volkswagen, employees were jailed and fined after it was discovered that union leaders were provided with prostitutes, sex parties and drugs.)
Independent.co.uk, “Bank tells staff: no more sex on expenses,” April 23, 2008
“…you can try to guilt-trip people with this kind of thing,” explained Aaron Peskin, chairman of San Francisco’s Board of Supervisors, on why they had passed dozens of laws, including one which fined businesses that left lights on overnight, and another which banned plastic bags. (Silly us. We thought governance was about the rule of law.)
The New York Times, “A Board Rules, and Businesses Balk,” April 20, 2008
HIDDEN CAMERAS ON THE RISE
The following two stories about hidden cameras should forewarn companies of potential dangers.
The much publicized beef recall from Hallmark/Westland Meat Packing Inc. was driven by hidden camera footage belonging to a Humane Society investigative unit employee who sought employment at the company for the purpose of shooting videos showing mistreatment. The Society executive overseeing this division was open about their agenda of pushing government regulation. And a lesson from Wal-Mart on how not to treat small vendors: a little video production house shot Wal-Mart’s internal videos for almost 30 years. After being summarily dismissed by the giant retailer, Flagler tried to sell the videos to Wal-Mart, which declined to pay the price requested, saying they were of no value. Flagler then started renting and selling the videos to anyone interested. The plaintiff’s lawyers, communication experts (wink) and others have been among those who thought these videos were “of value.”
The Wall Street Journal, “Humane Society Probes Put Pressure on Firms,” April 4, 2008
The Wall Street Journal, “Candid Camera: Trove of Videos Vexes Wal-Mart,” April 9, 2008
An additional story came to us from Corporate Counsel magazine about a Lockheed employee trying to get management’s attention for dangerous lapses in quality. He followed all the proper procedures for several years, and no one would pay him any attention. Finally, he sat in front of a camera, described the problems, held up examples and posted the video on YouTube. Congressional hearings resulted. The inspector general’s investigation, which has languished, roared back to life. A “must-read” article for how internal ethics systems failed – and cost Lockheed enormous amounts of money and credibility – but also to see that communication via video continues to pop up in places one wouldn’t expect.
Corporate Counsel, “Attention Must Be Paid: After a Lockheed engineer uncovered problems about the Deepwater ship water building process, the company didn’t want to hear about it – but Congress and Justice did.” January 2008
BODY LANGUAGE
Body Language is a hot topic. One example comes to us from Australia for an outcry over a playful salute that Prime Minister Kevin Rudd made to President George Bush at a NATO meeting.
CNN.com, “Australian PM Criticized for ‘joke’ salute to Bush,” April 4, 2008
AND A GOOD EXAMPLE of body language is from Starbucks’ CEO Howard Schultz on reinventing the juggernaut. This was an excellent example of how to use the media for visibility and promotion.
Business Week, “Howard Schultz on Reinventing Starbucks,” April 21, 2008
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