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The Executive Presence Blog:

5 Reasons You Should Be Transparent at Work

Why Coming Clean Will Help You Advance & Lack of Transparency Will Hurt You

3. Say You're Sorry -- And Mean It!

In a world where social media is everywhere and missteps are easily captured and shared, executives increasingly, often suddenly, find themselves in the media spotlight, reputation in the balance. From poor decision-making to ethical lapses to coping with stress through outsized self-indulgent behavior, opportunities for all types of fails abound. When “caught,” the knee-jerk reaction is to apologize. The problem -- most mea culpa lack follow-through, making a mere apology largely ineffective or even counterproductive if it isn’t accompanied by evidence of policy or perceivable change in behavior now and in the future. To please the cynics a key to effective communication is: Show, don’t tell. With apologies so commonplace, even those entirely sincere often fail to resonate.  

Instead, it is action that persuades. 

When it became public that Yahoo head Scott Thompson had misrepresented his academic credentials on his resume, the board -- with a little push from a major shareholder -- took action. Thompson was sacked and Yahoo sent the signal that, although the company itself was in crisis, it would not tolerate ethical lapses. That decisive action certainly didn’t hurt in attracting the talents of Google executive Marissa Mayer, adding a character to root for in the sorry Yahoo story.   

An apology all by itself often won't cut it and a fundamental of the 12-step approach to recovery from addictions is that the apology or amends is worthless without evidence of behavior change.  The Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) sponsor won’t let someone off the hook until there is a plan to correct what the program labels "character defects."

 

  • Harrison Monarth

    New York Times bestselling business author Harrison Monarth is founder of GuruMaker, a global communications consulting firm that coaches Fortune 500 executives, politicians, and other high-level professionals in crafting and presenting … Read more...