It’s that time of year again..when we recap the biggest PR blunders of the year, the biggest crisis of the year, the best PR campaign of the year. I’ve even got a few of those on tap for this blog in the next few weeks. (Stay tuned!).

As a self-processed “Student of the CEO” – I’ve often written about the value of the CEO in building trust for a Company or brand, and more importantly, making or keeping that brand or Company relevant. In its simplest form, the notion of CEO as a reputation driver is predicated on the presumption that the CEO’s actions are additive.

But what happens when the CEO doesn’t help your cause? Typically, that conjures up images of a CEO in handcuffs, or professing ignorance about what transpired at his company. This David Pogue piece from yesterday’s New York Times makes a great case about questionable decisions by CEOs leading to reputational damage…Netflix, Cisco, HP are his examples. Where a CEO’s singular focus on a particular constituency, at the expense of all others, causes reputational damage, not only to the CEO (some end up losing their jobs), but to their Company or brand.

Leadership requires balancing the needs of multiple stakeholders in all decision making. And while you can’t make all of them happy all of the time (sometimes their needs are diametrically opposed), you can communicate big decisions in a way that includes and addresses each stakeholder. We call it the Total Stakeholder Approach.

In the post OWS world, it is clear that ignoring even one of your stakeholder groups is ill advised….will the leaders of 2012 learn from these CEOs’ blunders….or do more of the same?

cwinters Public Relations CEOs, Corporate Brand, David Pogue, Executive Visibility

Twenty years ago this month I put on my new Ann Taylor suit, accessorized with a scarf (flight attendant style) and began my entry level job at a little PR firm in NJ that no one had ever heard of. Those were the days when press releases were mailed (yes, my 20-something colleagues, you read that right), executives carried beepers, and you waited for the giant Burelles envelopes to come in the mail with your clips.

MWW Group was a startup – we’d just opened our 2nd office in Trenton, NJ, (of all places) and had a whopping staff of 5. I did it all….answered the phones, pretended to be our CEO’s assistant (he couldn’t’ afford one), made media lists…and got my first “hit” in The New York Times. Back then Bill Gates was “the devil” – not the hero-philanthropist of today. Gordon Gecko told us (the first time) that greed was good. And the overnight news cycle ruled the day.

A lot has changed in our business since then, and I guess I’ve changed a lot, too. I’ve worked in every practice in the firm – yes, consumer marketing and public affairs, too. I’ve held every position (ok almost every position…I haven’t run the finance department or been CEO). And I’ve seen some of the most dramatic changes possible… The (original) real estate bubble. The rise of the Internet. The dot com boom, and bust. Strategic Philanthropy has given way to CSR, employee communications is now employee engagement. Visibility became buzz and then, conversation.

But there are some universal truths that haven’t changed since I was an Account Coordinator. When it comes to the PR business, and building, enhancing, and protecting reputations these 5 things are constants:

1. We trust people, not companies. Back then, the Celebrity CEOs ruled…Iaccocca, Welch, Crandall. But we knew that putting a face on a company was a good thing…and we understood that it was important to have a story and a POV beyond just your own Company.

2. Third parties tip the scale. What others say about you is more important than what you say about yourself.

3. A mistake in the initial response of a crisis can damage your reputation forever.

4. The only way to build a great media list is to work the phone. Whether using today’s databases, or my trusty old 1992 edition of NY Publicity Outlets…nothing substitutes for direct conversation.

5. If you want to learn to write a great headline, read the NY Post. And in our 140 character ecosystem, headline writing is more important than ever.

Another universal truth — my family still doesn’t understand what I do. Except now, when someone says I am in advertising, I don’t argue about it.

I’m thinking these might still be the same 20 years from now.

cwinters General Corporate Bill Gates, Crisis Communications, Executive Visibility, Internet, Public Relations

It was tough to be a leader in 2010….rising up above the chaos felt a little bit like a game of whack-a-mole – he who stuck his head up had a good chance of being whacked. And more than a few CEOs took to the bunker last year.

I was fortunate to have several clients in 2010 who knew that the chaos presented an opportunity for reinforcing and underscoring their reputations as leaders. By having a clear point of view, and standing for something significant, they’ve built their leadership profiles and enhanced the reputation of their organizations. Many of them have become the de facto spokespeople for their industries, and some have moved ahead to be marketshare leaders, in addition to thought leaders. Working on these programs in 2010 has been a great privilege, and it has also been great fun.

If the conversations I’ve been having in the past few weeks are any indication, in 2011 we will see a renewed emphasis on the role of leaders in supporting, enhancing and increasing their Company’s reputations. It isn’t about ego….it is about trust.

The simple fact is that we trust people….not companies. And one of the best ways to build trust is to begin having a conversation with your stakeholders, about your business, but more importantly about issues, trends and topics that are bigger than your business.

At MWW Group, we have a proprietary approach for building Leadership for people and companies that we call CEO EquityBuilder. It’s a great model…and it works. And being just a little “Type A,” I am always looking to improve and enhance it. So when I came across a piece in Harvard Business Review titled 3 Ways to Become a Thought Leader, I couldn’t click fast enough. After all, it’s Harvard Business Review.
Here is what I learned…sometimes the simplest advice is the best. And that reputation is powerful, indeed.

cwinters General Corporate Executive Visibility, Thought Leadership

Fortune has breathlessly declared Steve Jobs the “CEO of the Decade.” Quite an honorific. And certainly not undeserved – Fortune makes a persuasive case and few would dismiss Jobs’ eye for design, commitment to innovation and the customer experience, vision, and mastery of the message. No question he was the driving force behind the Apple of today and has, along the way, reshaped the technology biz.

But that might also be a problem. The article asks, When he’s gone, how long will the company thrive without him? It’s a valid and important question; one that companies – particularly those run by a founder or someone else who was “there at the beginning” – struggle with.

I wonder if Apple’s and Jobs’ reputation might be too tangled up in one another. Can we imagine Apple without him? The same words you’d toss out to describe Apple can be ascribed to Jobs, and vice versa. That’s not inherently a bad thing, just a fact that makes Apple’s corporate reputation unique and more challenging to manage. Berkshire Hathaway is in a similar spot with the venerated Mr. Buffet, as was Microsoft as Gates handed off the baton.

Corporate reputation has to outlast management changes. A great leader is focused on what comes after him or her, and making sure the organization is set up for success. No one should be irreplaceable. In fact, part of strong corporate reputation is how well that corporation handles major management and leadership changes. Succession is an emulsifying ingredient to corporate reputation – but perhaps a post for another day.

It’ll be interesting to see how Apple’s reputation evolves in the post-Jobs era.

Mike Sacks can be reached at msacks@mww.com

msacks Executive Visibility, General Corporate CEO communications, Executive Visibility, Reputation Management

The new GM chairman, Ed Whitacre, has taken to the picture box as the face of the embattled auto-maker in what is part of a bigger plan to, if not restore GM to its former glory, at least begin winning back consumer confidence and sell some rides.

I’m not commenting on Whitacre’s performance. We (the U.S. taxpayer) paid for the ad, and I think it’s kinda cool that I was a silent producer on the project. But it got me thinking about the broader philosophy of using the top boss as spokesperson in the media – not just in the cocoon of advertising where do-overs are allowed -particularly when things are tough. Like most things in the reputation management world, there are no easy answers as to whether you use the chairman or CEO or not. The answer is almost always “it depends.”

In either an urgent crisis or slow-burning attack on reputation, sometimes bringing out the big gun escalates rather than mitigates a situation. You might want to hold him or her back for later use. Sometimes you need the authority only a CEO-type can lend to put a quicker end to media frenzy. Sometimes you want to put the executive front and center, but have to weight it against their lack of the presence or preparedness needed to be an effective spokesperson. And sometimes the top executive should comment on a matter simply because it’s the right thing to do, when it otherwise would look like he or she is hiding from a precarious circumstance. There are a lot of variables to be sure and such a decision has strategic implications for communicators.

In cases like GM’s, where the very efficacy of the company is in question, demonstrating competent (or at least the perception of competence) and resolute management can go a long way to rebuilding a damaged reputation. Of course, communicating those qualities at all times is what helps fortify corporate reputation against damage in the first place.

Mike Sacks can be reached at msacks@mww.com

msacks Executive Visibility, General Corporate Executive Visibility, Leadership, rebuilding reputation