Elton John once sang "Sorry seems to be the hardest word". It might be the "hardest word" but in some cases, such as in business, it's best to say it. If you want to manage your reputation after a negative incident, the best route is to regret what you've done, and then tell your stakeholders how you plan to resolve the issue.
In today's South China Morning Post there were two articles about regret and remedy that attracted my attention and highlighted how apologising and being honest can kill a story.
The first article I read was about the Paraguayan President Fernando Lugo admitting that he was the father of a child conceived while he was still a Catholic bishop. Journalists who were probably ready to go for the President's jugular were shocked when the President admitted that he had in fact fathered the child. They were probably stunned even further when he assumed all responsibilities and recognised the paternity of the child. This, I believe, was the right way to handle the situation. His credibility is still tainted but by being honest he has escaped complete ruin and a mauling by the media.
The other story was about Amazon apologising for a 'glitch' that caused sales rankings on gay-themed books to disappear. A spokesperson for the company apologised for the issue, said it was an "embarrassing and ham-fisted cataloguing error" and that they had fixed the problem and intended to implement new measures to make sure it didn't happen again.
Media interest should subside in both of these cases because the President/Amazon admitted their mistakes, regretted the situation and said that they would take full responsibility for resolving it and making sure it won't happen again.
Wednesday 15 April 2009
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