The past year has put more attention on the value of reputation for companies and their leaders than any recent time. But the rules of reputation are as old as human interaction, and they are learned early. Reputation is probably the original risk management tool, hard wired into humans and used intuitively by people to size up their risk when creating relationships, forming alliances or establishing boundaries. Reputation tells us how to orient ourselves personally, in relation to individuals, organizations, and leaders. It is a catalyst for every decision we make about a person, a company, an organization, or an institution. Reputation is the framework for relationships.
The situation was well summarized by my 15 year-old daughter listening to a radio news piece on pre-recession compensation of financial executives. There were lots of negative sound bites about the judgment and values of senior leaders, and no one defending what they were trying to accomplish as they built their institutions larger and larger: “The way people’s reputations are treated in business, it’s worse than high school,” she said. “Where are their friends to defend them.”
Yes, where indeed are those friends? Unlike for a brand that falls out of favor, there is no bargain bin for reputations. No one wants to be associated with a leader who becomes radioactive, or a company that fails at transparency. It takes a strategic effort over many months or years–on top of a real improvement in results– to rehabilitate corporate reputation. Unlike high school, you can’t just grow out of it.
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How true the story rings. Without disclosure the story esculates with a media/sports giant as Woods. It will never disappear, and it will always be pulled up by someone making a point, just less of what water hole gossip needs to be social.
I have heard it is just natural for men to have affairs which is a cringe to me, however, there is a portion of the world population that thinks this way…And, if I was not an adult, I would probably not even question why he was out so late and smashed his car with his wife smashing the rear window to save him. What age group is going to tell their children about affairs? This is similar to how people view political affairs, they smooth over in time, and with age do not ripen for most in the majors…Somewhere Woods will be Woods again, without question about his text messages. It will be his next game with more watching his tactics, his ability to stay in control, and how he plays the game. This will be the turning point from today’s news. And for his wife? She is staying well out of it all…