Claudine Gay, Liz Magill, Pamela Nadell and Sally Kornbluth testify before the House Education and ... [+]
After campus protests erupted last fall over the war between Israel and Hamas, the presidents of Harvard University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and the University of Pennsylvania appeared before the U.S. Congress in December to explain their universities’ codes of conduct on antisemitic speech.
For five grueling hours, the presidents fielded questions from an antagonistic panel and, by some standards, gave the right answers: principled, nuanced, and accurate on the law and the facts. What is also true though, is that the presidents walked into a space where legal arguments don’t cut it. This wasn’t a courtroom. They, and their advisers, failed to get good advice that would have helped them craft a message that would play with all stakeholders—and, most importantly, in the court of public opinion.
Within a month, the presidents of Harvard and the University of Pennsylvania had lost their jobs. Commentators have blamed everything from political correctness in the academic world, to a lack of civility and respect in the chambers of government. Coached on their testimony by the same elite law firm, the presidents were well-prepared to parse policy but utterly unprepared to deal with the emotions of the moment and the hostility of the venue.
Practitioners of value-based leadership argue that satisfying multiple stakeholders simultaneously makes leaders settle for doing, “the least bad thing,” instead of aiming to do, “the right thing.” Here are some tips for navigating the complex world of multi-stakeholder communication.
Resist Temptation To Use Lawyers For PR Strategy
During a crisis, senior leadership often finds itself at a loss and so tends to consult lawyers by default. But as the leaders of Harvard, Penn and M.I.T. found, this is a bad strategy when it comes to messaging. Lawyers are trained to advise clients not to say or do anything that might be held against them in a court of law. But leaders have to seize the moment; saying nothing keeps them on the defensive, ill-prepared to respond to attacks.
Just Because It’s Right Doesn’t Mean You Should Say It
Business leaders often believe that being “technically” correct gives them integrity. It shows their mastery of their subject, their command of context, and the quality of their analysis. But presenting a position, especially one that is likely to be controversial, is never just a question of being right—or even being legal.
Michelin, the tire company, in 1999 announced both a 20% profit rise and a 10% reduction in its European workforce. Management made a plausible argument that the job cuts would create value; French labor law gives even profitable companies the right to conduct layoffs. Nevertheless, Michelin was pilloried in the press because of what it revealed about its values when it put these two news items in the same sentence—“a stunning act of disdain,” according to The New York Times.
Play The Long Game When It Comes To Reputation
One of the business metrics that is hardest to evaluate is the financial cost of reputational damage. When public opinion turns, what is the financial cost of that?
In January, ExxonMobil filed suit in Texas to prevent a climate proposal by activist investors from going to a vote during the company’s shareholder meeting in May. Fossil-fuel companies are the brunt of climate activists’ anger, to be sure, and from ExxonMobil’s point of view, this probably looked like a good way to shut the dissenters up and get on with business.
But from a long-term reputational standpoint, launching a preemptive strike on shareholder democracy is a terrible idea—as commentators have pointed out. As a business leader, you may not particularly like to hear public opinion or the views of minority shareholders. But as a leader living in the real world, you have to acknowledge the power of these outside voices to help you, or hurt you, in achieving your goals.
Don’t Have A Yes-Man For A PR Advisor
No matter how open-minded or well-informed you think you are, you are not and never will be the best judge of how the world will perceive you and what you think you want to say. You need a sparring partner, even if it hurts your ego.
Communications-wise, this is the goal that gets you every other goal.
