February 2020, Reputation Management Roundup
The reputation management industry never sleeps, and February was another month of big news for companies like Facebook and even an entire country (Switzerland) scrambling to manage their reputations.
As Warren Buffett said, “It takes 20 years to build a reputation and 5 minutes to ruin it. If you think about that, you’ll do things differently.”
While this may be true, it doesn’t always come down to people making mistakes. Sometimes, the internet and governments simply get it wrong, and someone’s reputation pays the price, as in the case of Leonard Givens Jr.
Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg Defends “Tough Boss” Reputation in Wide-Ranging Interview With NBC
In the first Byers Market podcast, Dylan Byers questions Sheryl Sandberg about her reputation as a micro-manager prone to yelling at subordinates and harboring an obsession with her public image. The interview comes the day after tech writer Steven Levy released a book reporting on Facebook and its executives with unfettered access.
Listen to the full interview here: https://nbcnews.to/2Pw97cg
Swiss Spying Scandal Shakes Reputation of Neutrality, BBC Reports
For decades, a Swiss company bankrolled by the CIA and German government sold encryption devices to over 120 countries from the 1980s to 2000s, all while spies were listening
“Foreign governments were paying good money to the U.S. and West Germany for the privilege of having their most secret communications read by at least two (and possibly as many as five or six) foreign countries,” said a report by the CIA into the operation.
The bombshell news has undermined Switzerland’s reputation of neutrality, which has been baked into the country’s DNA and global perception.
Read the full article here: https://bbc.in/2wTyr5H
Former College Football Player Struggles to Restore Reputation After Court Dismissals
“In 2017, Salisbury police charged Leonard Givens Jr. in a shooting outside of a hookah bar, and after three years, police dropped the charges against him.”
Even with the justice system dismissing charges or finding a defendant not guilty, the hurdle of overcoming a damaged reputation persists long after a court decision.
Read the full article here: http://bit.ly/3ae1lvP
