When the boss is the cause of the crisis!

Boy oh boy, there seem to be a lot of cases lately of people, almost all men, in positions of authority using their positions to undertake improper relationships with subordinates. What is amazing about this is the sheer stupidity of these people who partake in these hi-jinks and the fact that a number of them knowingly do so, fully understanding, and in some cases having crafted their organizations policy regarding sexual harassment.

I say this as a marketing and communications person but it is never in the best interests of the organization for the CEO or president or what ever the title to step out and have an affair on their significant other. Doing so, not only opens up a tremendous can of worms from a legal stand point, it generally acts like setting off a bomb as far as employee morale. Think for a moment, how does someone given a reprimand for making a stupid comment feel when they see that the CEO is getting away with far worse. How does a member of the opposite gender feel when they see someone promoted whom they feel is much less talented then they are?

Most importantly from a marketing perspective, think of what this says to the customer? If you are an advertiser on the Late Show with David Letterman, are you in the long term going to keep your product with him, if your demographic is married women? I would say probably not. If we're talking about a B2B organization it could cause serious concerns about the judgment of not just the CEO but of the entire senior staff. The simple fact of the matter here is that the personal behavior of senior executives does directly impact how the organization is seen within the marketplace.

The past 25 to 30 years have been focused on building the cult of the god like CEO. As a result, the luster of the CEO can, and often times does, outshine that of the organization. In most cases, this is what the CEO likes to see even if they do not say so. Sadly, there are a great number of negative effects to this change not the least of which is that the behavior of the individual, now impacts the entire organization. It is now the requirement of the marketing and communications person to have in place a plan which will focus on how to deal with the misbehavior of senior executives.

Tabloid PR has entered the building!