Posts tagged as:

Ethics

How to Rescue Your Reputation from a Business Crisis

by Daria Steigman on September 17, 2012

Blue Graffiti Copyright SymbolI discovered one of my old blog posts “published” on someone else’s Web site. I sent the business an e-mail to remove my blog post immediately as they did not have permission to use it.

Then I wrote in a Facebook exchange on the topic:

I’m really just [mad] on principle, because I’d probably have let them reprint it. It’s just a silly little post about business cards.

But they didn’t ask, and they didn’t attribute.

And it turns out the business owner didn’t know his blogger was lazy and unethical. He had the post removed and replaced with this apology:

We are very sorry to the true author of this blog post Daria Steigman.

Unfortunately, our previous blog manager did not share the same views as [the company] does regarding copyright laws. We are a very ethical company that offers our client super products and knowledge regarding their advertising and printing needs, The re-posting of an article that was not created by [our company] is not how we choose to do business and we are very ashamed that this action took place. We are sorry not only to the true author of this blog post but also to our customers.

He signed it. And he called me personally to apologize.

How you respond to bad news says a lot about your business.

This post isn’t about plagiarism or copyright law. It’s really about business, reputation, and what to do when something goes horribly wrong. This guy has a mess on his hands. But I suspect his business will be okay because he’s taking responsibility, being transparent with his customers, and looking at next steps.

What would you have done? What advice would you give him?

Photo by Horia Varlan (Flickr).

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Don’t Let Perks & Perception Define You

by Daria Steigman on March 23, 2012

Bingo Cards. Perks. Business EthicsLet’s talk about perks and perception.

My 5-member condo board voted 2-0, two abstaining, to have a 2-person pilot project to test the process for allowing co-owners to install small washer/dryer machines in their units. Now, a lot of co-owners have been pushing hard for these tiny, energy-efficient, low-water-usage, washer/dryer machines (note: I am not one of them). So guess who gets the honor of being first in line?

Bingo! The two board members who abstained on the vote.

I ran my condo board for six years. I used to say, as the go-to officer, that I was “first among equals” when it came to  directors. I also said that our core responsibility was to act in the best interest of all owners. When it came to vendors offering me a sweetheart deal in return for access to co-owners, I always said NO. Once I even negotiated a deal with a local gym to get a group discount if enough building residents signed up. Once they did, the gym reneged on the deal and offered just me a discount. Not only did I say NO, but I wrote a letter to all the people who had signed up to explain why the deal was off.

Perception matters. 

Here’s what I know about the laundry machines:

  • Lots of owners want them.
  • The board wants to approve  a select few (presumably one or two) vendors to sell and install them.
  • One (or two) of these potential vendors are going to install washer/dryer units for the people making that decision.

What could possibly go wrong?

You aren’t supposed to give yourself perks. That’s why special dining rooms for executives and board retreats at luxury resorts tend to rub many employees the wrong way. Or why free, reserved parking at the airport for Members of Congress irks constituents.

It would have been so easy to do a drawing among interested not-elected-to-the-board co-owners and select a couple at random to do a test run through the purchase and installation process.

I’m not saying that anything untoward is going on here. But why beg the question?

Photo by Robert Banh (Flickr).

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4 Leadership Lessons from the Penn State Scandal

by Daria Steigman on November 14, 2011

It’s impossible to ignore what happened at Penn State. Which is ironic since Penn State officials, impossibly, chose to ignore what was happening.

This was a massive failure on many levels.

Here are four leadership lessons:

1. Leadership is about making tough decisions. The president of the university didn’t. Joe Paterno didn’t. But the Board of Trustees did, taking quick action once the scandal broke to start to clean house and appoint a special committee to investigate how things went so wrong.

2. Dissent should be encouraged. I don’t know this, but it certainly appears that no one involved with the Penn State football program made a move without consulting Paterno first. Because otherwise I can’t for the life of me understand why a 28-year-old’s first thought after witnessing an assault wouldn’t be to call 9-1-1. You can’t be a good leader if you don’t let people act independently–and disagree with you.

3. Bubbles are bad for business. Tracee Hamilton wrote a terrific column for the Washington Post in which she said in part:

If [Paterno] really loved Penn State as much as he professed, he’d have fallen on his own sword a lot sooner, rather than letting the situation on campus reach a boiling point while trying to engineer his own retirement… If he wanted to save his school and his program and even his friend from the firestorm engulfing them all now, all he had to do was pick up the phone and dial 9-1-1. Three digits.

Paterno was the definition of a ”big man on campus.” The problem with bubbles is that you only talk to friends (see #2) and see what you want to see. And you think you can control everything.

4. The letter of the law is not enough. You can’t lead by technicality. The argument that (indicted and/or fired) Penn State officials have tried to make is that they did what they were legally obligated to do. That might save Joe Paterno from criminal liability, but it certainly doesn’t save him from moral accountability.

What leadership lessons learned would you add?

Photo by Russell James Smith (Flickr).

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Pulling Your Chain

by Daria Steigman on November 3, 2011

business, ethics, Independent ThinkingWhen I was in graduate school, there was this guy who had a habit of putting his hands where they didn’t belong. Many of my female classmates would make excuses for him, saying he was from [anywhere but here], and he just didn’t understand personal space.

Fast forward to the business world, where I see some of the same excuses being made.

Just the other day, one colleague was lamenting that a company had dropped new tasks into the negotiated contract–but not increased the budget. Another colleague told me that a prospect kept asking for business advice but wasn’t ready to make a buying decision. Each suggested the challenge had to do with how different cultures communicate.

Huh?

Show me a culture where people expect to work for free–and then let’s talk.

People can only take advantage of you if you let them. Whether you’re from Mississippi, Montana, or Mozambique, there’s a right way and a wrong way to behave–in your personal sphere and in business.

If someone’s pulling your chain, call them on it. Or, better yet, do business with someone else.

Photo by Julian Burgess (Flickr). 

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Are You Counting the Pills?

by Daria Steigman on October 10, 2011

Quality Control, Business, Business Ethics, Independent Thinking, Steigman CommunicationsI always count the pills.

And the widgets. (And pretty much anything I buy “by the numbers.”) It’s not that I expect any problems, it’s just that I want to make sure I’m getting what I pay for when it comes to products bought in open bulk.

When it comes to medications, it seems there’s  a lot of miscalculation going on. After my mom received 25 percent fewer pills than should have been in a bottle recently, she warned everyone she knows. Several people e-mailed immediately to say they’ve had the same problem.

Meds cost big bucks. Per pill.

My old bank said “it’s only pennies” when I asked them to credit back interest they owed me because of a screw-up at their end. Yes, but they’re my pennies.

Add my pennies to your pennies and a whole lot more customers, and you can see how the dollars start to add up.

I don’t know how often it’s a quality control problem versus a deliberate strategy of spreading out the inventory. But I know as a business owner that I don’t want my customers asking that question.

Who’s counting the pills in your business?

Photo by Dominique Godbout (Flickr).

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