Feb

25

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“You can’t talk your way out of a problem
that you behaved yourself into.”

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Feb

25

The recent fall of two major worldwide brand names - Tiger Woods and Toyota - is a testament to the power and the fragility of a person’s or a company’s reputation.  It is not as important to list the mistakes of both widely recognized brands as it is to consider the prevention steps for those who sincerely want to live and be recognized as a trustworthy individual or company.

Unfortunately, there aren’t any tests you can take or analyses to be performed that will conclusively tell you that you are “full of yourself” or that you are making a big mistake.  It is entirely possible to be a self-aware, empathetic, and hyper-supportive individual and still crash your personal brand into a wall. 

Also true is the fact that, as a company, you can have great managers, remarkable products and services, and amazing employees but if senior management (or any level of management for that matter) indulges itself too much or begins to let themselves off the hook for taking shortcuts, the walls of that organization will eventually crumble.

For the individual who is caught up in his or her situation the prevailing attitude is - “The rules don’t apply to me; I’m different.”  For companies, it’s more of an evolution - today’s shortcut soon becomes tomorrow’s widely-known but never talked about double standard (do as I say, not as I do), which eventually opens the door to a culture dominated by shortcuts of necessity (which is code for “management convenience”).

In Tiger’s case it wasn’t simply one woman that did him in, and in Toyota’s case it wasn’t just one screw or pin that brought them down, it was a lack of accountability.  Both brands knew what they were doing, they simply did not have a person in place that they trusted and respected who could tell them the truth and they would hear it.

We all like to be right, even when we know we’re wrong.  When confronted with an ugly truth about ourselves by someone we don’t know or respect, we push back - literally and figuratively - and we continue to let our own beliefs persevere.

However, when we are confronted with the truth by someone we do trust and respect, the odds increase exponentially that we will pay attention, hear the words, and stop doing what we’re doing.

Who will tell you the truth…all the time?

And who will you listen to?

Find that person, thank them for their honesty, and by all means DO NOT put them on your payroll.

In other words - Find someone who you know will always tell you the truth, no matter how successful you are…and pay attention!.

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