Business leaders who want to succeed need to embrace their human side

Sometimes company bosses need to scrap the expensive advice

One of the questions I’m often forced to ponder in the course of my work is why some companies succeed and others do not.

I don’t mean financially, although that helps, but in the reputational sense. They appear to have an easy rapport with the public, with their shareholders, with the business media, with politicians and with regulators. When things sometimes go wrong, as they inevitably do, they can easily be forgiven. For others, by contrast, an error is widely regarded as another negative, sometimes fatally so.

For the first group, they can turn even the very worst into good, not cynically and exploitatively, but naturally. For the latter, it may prove to be the final blow, for the senior management or the brand, or both – the executives destined never to recover their personal reputations.

What’s the most traumatic event to befall an organisation? One that ranks highly or the highest, is a death or deaths or serious injury as a result of something they did not do or due to a design fault they did not correct. For the bosses, a tragedy occurring on their watch is a nightmare. How they respond can determine whether they still have a future or if their careers are over.

I’ve now been through several of these product safety occurrences, with different companies, products, markets and countries. Each time, I sit and listen as a tale of disaster unfolds. Often the boss will raise doubts and inject arguments clearly prepared for them by a lawyer.

Sometimes, in relation to their subsequent portrayal by the press and on social media, possibly to make them feel better, they will allege the existence of a conspiracy, out to pounce on any mistake.

Frequently, their legal adviser will have instructed them to say little, to not do anything that may suggest an acceptance of liability.

But there is other advice that is just as crucial. I studied law at university. I know how lawyers think and behave, how they’re taught to avoid saying anything categoric, how they must qualify everything.

On my first national newspaper, The Sunday Times, one of the editorial chiefs called me into his office. “You did law, didn’t you?” he said. I nodded. “What’s this,” he asked, pointing to a table.

“It’s a table,” I said. “Well, bloody well say so. Don’t say ‘it’s got a flat top and four legs and therefore it could be a table’. It’s a table.”

Increasingly, I’m recommending to business leaders, masters of the universe, powerful people who have been hugely successful in their chosen spheres, but are now mired in adversity, a simple truth: be human. Show the world you’re a human being, that you have feelings too, that you care and you do empathise.

If it looks as though someone died or suffered terrible harm because they used one of your products or one of your staff made a calamitous mistake, whatever the reason – and don’t hold out for 100 per cent proof – see them if they’re still alive, visit the relatives. Shake their hand, reach out to them.

UK news in pictures

• 50 show all

UK news in pictures

• 1/50 21 April 2018

  Team England Athletes during the Commonwealth Games Team England Parade in Victoria Square, Birmingham.

  PA

• 2/50 20 April 2018

  Varun Chopra of Essex during the Specsavers County Championship Division One match between Essex and Lancashire at the Chelmsford County Cricket Ground. The game is being played in the warmest April temperatures in 70 years.

  Getty

• 3/50 19 April 2018

  A young boy cools off in the fountains in Piccadilly Gardens in Manchester.

  Getty

• 4/50 18 April 2018

  Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau takes a selfie with Mayor of London Sadiq Khan and New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern at City Hall in London, during the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting. They discussed gender equality and issues affecting young people with London school children.

  PA

• 5/50 17 April 2018

  Prime Minister Theresa May hosts a meeting with leaders and representatives of Caribbean countries, at 10 Downing Street on the sidelines of the Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting.

  AFP/Getty

• 6/50 16 April 2018

  Aneira Thomas, the first baby to be born on the NHS, addresses the Unison Health Conference at the Brighton Centre

  PA

• 7/50 15 April 2018

  Sir Patrick Stewart addresses the crowd during the People's Vote campaign launch on Brexit at the Electric Ballroom in Camden Town.

  PA

• 8/50 14 April 2018

  Prime Minister Theresa May gives a press conference at Downing Street following British military action, alongside US and France, against Syria. British jets fired missiles at a Syrian military base suspected of holding chemical weapons ingredients.

  AFP/Getty Images

• 9/50 13 April 2018

  England's Katarina Johnson-Thompson celebrates after winning the heptathlon with compatriot and bronze medal winner Niamh Emerson during the 2018 Commonwealth Games on the Gold Coast in Australia.

  AP

• 10/50 12 April 2018

  Quaker Alan Pinch makes tea for passers-by as he holds a protest in Manchester against UK military intervention in Syria

  Getty

• 11/50 11 April 2018

  A man pulls the flowers down from a fence opposite the house of Richard Osborn-Brooks in South Park Crescent in Hither Green, London. The shrine has become an unlikely flashpoint of tensions between the grieving family and his neighbours since last week's incident where burglar Henry Vincent was killed by Richard Osborn-Brooks at his house.

  PA

• 12/50 10 April 2018

  Jonathan Powell, Lord John Alderdice, Lord David Trimble, Sir Reg Empey, Lord Paul Murphy of Torfaen and (front row left to right) Professor Monica McWilliams, Seamus Mallon, former taoiseach Bertie Ahern, Senator George Mitchell and Gerry Adams, at an event to mark the 20th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement, at Queen's University in Belfast.

  PA

• 13/50 9 April 2018

  The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan and Labour party leader Jeremy Corbyn gesture during the launch of Labour's local election campaign in central London.

  AFP/Getty

• 14/50 8 April 2018

  Hungarians queue to vote in their country's general election, in central London.

  Reuters

• 15/50 7 April 2018

  Orthodox Jews show support for a protest outside Downing Street in London, after at least nine Palestinians were shot and killed by the Israeli army at the Gaza-Israel border.

  Rex

• 16/50 6 April 2018

  Charlie Tanfield of England celebrates winning gold in Men's 4000m Individual Pursuit Finals, alongside Scottish silver medalist John Archibald and New Zealand's Dylan Kennett with the bronze at the XXI Commonwealth Games in Australia.

  EPA

• 17/50 5 April 2018

  Tributes for Ray Wilkins outside Stamford Bridge. The former Chelsea and England midfielder, who won 84 caps for his country, died in hospital on Wednesday morning following a cardiac arrest last Friday.

  PA

• 18/50 4 April 2018

  Alistair Brownlee, flag bearer of England, arrives with the team during the Opening Ceremony for the Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games at Carrara Stadium.

  Getty

• 19/50 3 April 2018

  Police at the scene where a 16-year-old boy was shot on Monday evening and left in a critical condition in Markhouse Road in Walthamstow, east London.

  PA

• 20/50 2 April 2018

  Roads are cleared in Nenthead, Cumbria, as five weather warnings are in place as heavy rain and snow affect swathes of the country on Easter Monday.

  Getty

• 21/50 1 April 2018

  Former Spitfire pilot Squadron Leader Allan Scott, 96, prepares to fly as a passenger in a Spitfire watched by Mary Ellis, 101, the oldest surviving member of the Air Transport Auxillary wing who flew over 400 Spitfires during the Second World War, as part of the RAF100 commemorations at Biggin Hill Airport..

  PA

• 22/50 31 March 2018

  The cortege arrives at Great St Marys Church, where the funeral of theoretical physicist Professor Stephen Hawking is being held, in Cambridge.

  Reuters

• 23/50 30 March 2018

  A wooden cross is carried up Roundhill in Bath, Wiltshire, where several Christian Church congregations take part in the Walk of Witness to imitate the journey that Jesus took carrying his cross through the streets of Jerusalem on Good Friday.

  PA

• 24/50 29 March 2018

  Prime Minister Theresa May meets a local parents and toddler group at St Andrew's Heddon-on-the-Wall, CofE Primary School during a tour of the UK timed to coincide with one year to go until Britain leaves the European Union. May is on a tour with a promise to keep the country "strong and united" one year before Brexit.

  WPA Pool/Getty

• 25/50 28 March 2018

  Catalan independence supporters protest outside Edinburgh Sherriff Court where Clara Ponsati is appearing. The pro-independence Catalan politician handed herself to Scottish Police as she is being sought by the Spanish government, who have accused her of violent rebellion and misappropriation of public funds.

  Getty

• 26/50 27 March 2018

  Jacob Rees-Mogg speaks about Brexit at a Leave Means Leave event at Carlton House Terrace, London.

  PA

• 27/50 26 March 2018

  The coffin of Kenneth White, an RAF veteran who died with no known family, is carried into Cambridge City Crematorium ahead of his funeral. A Facebook appeal was launched for people to attend the funeral of Mr White, who died at the age of 84. Over 100 strangers turned up to his funeral.

  PA

• 28/50 25 March 2018

  The Unveiling of Project 84, to represent the 84 men who commit suicide per week in Britain, eighty-four individual sculptures are placed on roofs, 12 of the sculptures are positioned on the roof of the This Morning Studio and the remaining 72 are standing on the roof of the ITV Studios Tower.

  ITV/REX

• 29/50 24 March 2018

  Cambridge men and women celebrate together after their double victory over Oxford in the 2018 boat race.

  Getty

• 30/50 23 March 2018

  Michel Barnier kisses Theresa May's hand as they arrive at the EU Summit in Brussels.

  Rex

• 31/50 22 March 2018

  Emergency services workers lay flowers and pay their respects at Parliament Square in Westminster on the anniversary of the Westminster Bridge attack in London.

  Reuters

• 32/50 21 March 2018

  The Fishing for Leave boat passes the Houses of Parliament on the River Thames, during a protest where fish were discarded into the Thames.

  PA

• 33/50 20 March 2018

  Houses sit on the cliff edge on The Marrams in Hemsby, as thirteen homes on the sandy cliffs have been evacuated amid fears they could topple into the sea, with further high tides and strong winds forecast. The residents of the properties in Norfolk were forced to leave over the weekend, Great Yarmouth Borough Council said.

  PA

• 34/50 19 March 2018

  Activists show their support outside of Chelmsford Crown Court for the ‘Stansted 15’, a group prosecuted under terrorism-related charges after blocking a mass deportation charter flight in April 2017

  William Prior

• 35/50 18 March 2018

  Sadiq Khan, Imelda Staunton, Gloria Hunniford at the annual Saint Patrick's Day parade in London.

  Rex

• 36/50 17 March 2018

  Fans make their way through a snow shower to Molineux Stadium ahead of the Sky Bet Championship match between Wolverhampton Wanderers and Burton Albion. Amber warnings for snow and ice have been issued by the Met Office ahead of a cold snap dubbed the "mini beast from the east".

  PA

• 37/50 16 March 2018

  Britain's Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson and the Polish Foreign Minister Jacek Czaputowicz visit a Battle of Britain bunker at RAF Northolt in Uxbridge.

  Reuters

• 38/50 15 March 2018

  Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May talks with Wiltshire Police's Chief Constable Kier Pritchard as she is shown the police tent covering the bench in Salisbury, where former Russian double agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia were discovered on March 4, following an apparent nerve agent attack. Britain expelled 23 Russian diplomats over the nerve agent poisoning and suspended high-level contacts, including for the World Cup on March 14. Theresa May told parliament that Russia had failed to respond to her demand for an explanation on how a Soviet-designed chemical, Novichok, was used in Salisbury.

  AFP/Getty

• 39/50 14 March 2018

  A man prepares to lay flowers outside Gonville and Caius College, at Cambridge University following the death of British physicist, Stephen Hawking, who was a fellow of the University for over 50 years. The flag over the college flew at half-mast as students and academics came to pay tribute after his death.

  AFP/Getty

• 40/50 13 March 2018

  The crowd looks on during Cheltenham Festival Champion Day.

  Rex

• 41/50 12 March 2018

  A police officer on duty near a protective tent which covers the bench where a man and woman were apparently poisoned with what was later identified as a nerve agent, in Salisbury.

  AFP/Getty

• 42/50 11 March 2018

  Protesters against the Turkish war on Syrian Kurds in Afrin block the tracks at Manchester Piccadilly station bringing rail services in and out of the terminal to a halt.

  PA

• 43/50 10 March 2018

  Royal Air Force Police dog Tornado leaps through a set of hoops on day three of the Crufts dog show at the NEC Arena in Birmingham.

  Getty

• 44/50 9 March 2018

  Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, with Scottish Labour leader Richard Leonard, during a visit to Abertay University in Dundee, prior to his address to delegates at the Scottish Labour Party Conference in the city's Caird Hall.

  PA

• 45/50 8 March 2018

  Britain's Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson sits with Year 1 pupils during a visit to St Leonard's Church of England Primary Academy in Hastings.

  Reuters

• 46/50 7 March 2018

  Electronic billboards show adverts for Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman with the hashtag ‘#ANewSaudiArabia’ in London.

  Getty

• 47/50 6 March 2018

  A police officer stands guard outside a branch of the Italian chain restaurant Zizzi close to The Maltings shopping centre in Salisbury, which was closed in connection to the ongoing major incident sparked after a man and a woman were found critically ill on a bench at the shopping centre on 4 March.

  AFP/Getty

• 48/50 5 March 2018

  Gary Oldman, winner of the Best Actor award for 'Darkest Hour,' poses with his award in the press room during the 90th Annual Academy Awards at Hollywood & Highland Center.

  Getty

• 49/50 4 March 2018

  Great Britain's Andrew Pozzi celebrates winning the men's 60m hurdles final as Aries Merritt of United States looks dejected during the IAAF World Indoor Championships at Arena Birmingham.

  Getty/IAAF

• 50/50 3 March 2018

  People playing with their sledges in Greenwich Park, east London, as the cold weather continues around the country.

  PA

The lawyer may say don’t. But it’s not about admitting culpability or blame, and there and then capitulating on a damages bill, as the legal eagles would have you believe. The charge has been made, however incorrectly, that your firm, your product, your name, was somehow involved. Step up, and show them and the world you share their pain. Sorting out the finer points of a lawsuit is for another day. For now, this is about displaying that behind that faceless exterior, a heart beats.

It’s the most natural reaction to succumb to the lawyer’s entreaties, and to retreat behind the grand edifice. You can cite all manner of reasons for doing so – that it’s got nothing to do with you, that your involvement is not certain, that it sets an awful precedent for future crises, that you’ve nothing to be ashamed of.

All of which may be true. But none of them deal with the reality, an increasing one in today’s world of snap, digital, viral judgment, that businesses must act as if they were human.

And not just where there’s been a death or injury. In their treatment of anything that may see them being questioned, their every move dissected and judged, companies must reveal a sure, warm, personal touch.

That means not falling back on spin that points to a greater success (“we sell X million units every year and this was the only one to go wrong”), to stellar numbers and profits (similarly of no consequence to those who have suffered, something did go wrong and right now, that is all that matters).

None of this is simple, and each case is different. There are always variants, a particular set of circumstances, another twist or detail. Neither should it form part of a textbook creed, a subject to be absorbed at business school. No amount of written-down, ordered, robotic procedure can suffice.

It’s about doing what is right, and doing it well – and holding a mirror up to yourself. It’s incredible how many supposedly sophisticated, well-versed in selling themselves individuals and corporations fail to do this. They cannot see what others see, how they’re seen. Think on that, chairman and chief executive, and do unto others as you would want done unto you.

Chris Blackhurst is a former editor of The Independent, and executive director of C|T|F Partners, the campaigns and strategic communications advisory firm

• More about:
• lawyer

Reuse contentRead the Original Article