This week I was at an engaging dinner in Belgium with my colleagues and distinguished guests. In addition to discussing how the reputation landscape is radically changing, we found ourselves talking about preparing CEO-elects for the media. One gentleman told the story about a brand new CEO who was asked by a broadcast journalist “How much does a pound of coffee cost today?” The new CEO stammered. The question could just as well have been: “How much does a quart of milk cost today?” The story is a good reminder of how the slightest slip up can smudge a new CEO’s reputation. The episode made me think of another new CEO who was asked on announcement day who had been most influential in their success. Unfortunately the new CEO did not mention the outgoing CEO who happened to be sharing the podium with him. One of those embarrassing moments that we all wish we could rewind and “do over.” Oftentimes CEOs are prepared to answer all those many questions on growth, balance sheets, share price and strategy. Little do they think that some media might ask them about their favorite book, movie or grade school teacher. Since new CEOs are often asked the oddest questions, here are a few that CEOs should be prepared to answer:

What word best describes you?

What’s the secret of your success?

What’s your motto?

What did you want to be when you grew up?

What has been your greatest personal achievement?

What’s the most important lesson you’ve learned over the years?

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• Who would you like to take to lunch, and why?

Veteran CBS newscaster Dan Rather’s suit against his former employer proves the point that reputations are worth reclaiming and repairing.

Rather’s esteemed reputation was severely tarnished after he apologized for a controversial 2004 report on President Bush’s National Guard service.  In due time, CBS essentially forced Rather out as anchor of CBS evening news. It seemed as if Rather slipped away with his tail between his legs. But two plus years later, Rather is suing CBS for breach of contract and the broadcast company’s attempts to “pacify the White House.”  Rather accuses CBS of committing fraud with a biased investigation that “seriously damaged his reputation.” His lawsuit is aimed at CBS president Leslie Moonves and Viacom chairman Sumner Redstone.

I was surprised to learn how many people think it is “sad” that Rather is suing CBS and bringing back the entire event. Someone is quoted in The Washington Post as saying that Rather must be going off the deep end to behave this way. Others say they can not believe he has not been humiliated enough. On and on.

His lawsuit makes perfect sense to me.  Your reputation is all you have at the end of the day. He has every right to mend his reputation and restore his good name. He says he has new evidence that supports his claim.

We might find out that his reputation is worth more than the $70 million named in the lawsuit. Actually reputation is priceless.

We just released some new research on company reputation. This is a subject that I have always been very interested in. Considering the daily headlines about quality problems with products made in China, this research is very timely.  This is what we learned about managing country reputation — it is alot harder than you may think. 

Leading a large multinational company might be a complex and challenging task, but global business leaders believe that heads of state have a much tougher job than they do when it comes to managing reputation.  When asked which is harder to manage — a country’s or a company’s reputation — executives chose country reputation more than twice as often (68 vs. 29 percent respectively).  Our survey, Safeguarding Reputation™, was conducted in 11 worldwide markets in partnership with KRC Research.

In a challenging sociopolitical global environment, business leaders clearly recognize that managing a country’s reputation or brand is complex and subject to many external forces. Recent problems with manufacturing in China, news about terrorist breeding grounds in Pakistan and U.S. government efforts to improve its reputation internationally show how difficult it is to effectively manage country brands today.  By comparison, managing a corporate reputation looks tame to senior business people.

Not All Types of Reputations Are Managed Equally
Global business executives agree that when it comes to managing perception, some industry and publicly held company reputations are more difficult to oversee than others, while managing an individual’s reputation is considered easier than both according to business executives.

• An industry’s reputation is perceived to be harder to manage than a company’s reputation — approximately one-and-one-half times more difficult (57 vs. 39 percent, respectively).  Interestingly, executives in Italy differ from most of their regional peers and consider a company’s reputation harder to manage than an industry’s reputation (54 vs. 30 percent, respectively).

• Publicly held company reputation is considered much more difficult to manage well than privately held company reputation — nearly three times more difficult according to global business executives (71 vs. 24 percent, respectively).  North American executives, compared to those in Europe and Asia, were the most likely to agree with this finding (82 percent vs. 63 percent vs. 76 percent, respectively).

• Company reputation is nearly four times more difficult to manage than individual reputation (77 vs. 21 percent, respectively).  

Back to the difficulties in managing country reputation. A recent article in The New York Times, “China Steps Up Efforts to Cleanse Reputation,” described China’s efforts to improve its tarnished reputation after much publicized recalls of Chinese-made products such as toothpaste, tires, toys and pet food. The article said that Chinese officials have engaged in the following activities in their all-out public relations offensive: held news conferences on food and product safety, were apologetic in conversations with Western officials, offered tours to international media of government safety labs, initiated a new recall system and nationwide inspection of various industry operations, and added labels to food packaging indicating that the contents were safe. As quoted in the article, a high-ranking Chinese official said: “This is a special war to protect the safety and interests of the general public, as well as a war to safeguard the ‘Made in China’ label and the country’s image.”

Chinese officials have not just turned the other cheek. They have argued with critics about the safety of their products and have publicized that other countries too have had trouble with exports. Clearly, the Made in China reputation is being taken seriously and the country’s global communications campaign is in high gear.  China is intends to recover its reputation as the Summer Olympics in Beijing approaches next year. The country even launched a special broadcast on its largest state-run network called “Believe in Made in China.”

Without a doubt, country reputation is hard to manage well. And as hard as it is to admit, much harder than managing company reputation. For those of us living in the U.S., we understand very well how it feels to lose reputational standing around the world. Someone has to take charge.