Archive for October 10th, 2009

  Reputations are sometimes left in the hands of the media, bloggers or Twitterers. And that is not always good. In a WSJ interview with the turnaround CEO of Delphi, Robert “Steve ” Miller, was asked about communicating when your company is in bankruptcy. He replied:

“I was very outspoken when we went into Chapter 11. But there was a lot of pushback and criticism. We made the decision to shut up. But if I had to do it all over again, I would keep speaking out. When you are in a controversial situation, you are going to be criticized whatever you do.

The critics said, “Steve Miller is the devil incarnate,” and we said, “No comment.” The only thing left out there for the public was the notion of a devil.”

Miller underscores the importance of engaging critics because if not, your enemies get the last word. CEOs are constantly confronted with this conundrum and especially when legal counsel is involved or regulators are part of the equation, as they are today. However, sometimes it makes sense to figure out what you can talk about that is not controversial and speak up.  Thought leadership platforms are tailor-made for these times. The best antidote is having a senior management team with a thick skin because the critics will always be out their with their pitchforks.