AIG just magnanimously announced that the company will not be joining a lawsuit against the government — us — that spent $182 billion to save it from collapse. The investment firm of their former chairman filed the original suit which says that the government didn’t fairly compensate AIG shareholders when it took an 80 percent stake in the company for the bailout. So for a time they contemplated suing the fire department that saved their house. And we’re the firefighters.
Someone’s going to say it wasn’t personal, just business and they decided against it after all, but at what point did public arrogance and stupidity become acceptable? When did it become OK for organizations to have that much gall, hubris, chutzpah and conceit, and to make it public?!
AIG isn’t that unique; it’s becoming more common in business and government. Bad consequences for bad behavior are the only lessons that stick for most people and there have to be consequences for AIG…we owe it to them. How much you wanna bet there’s a meeting somewhere in AIG today wondering why they have a lousy reputation?
Godec
How Do You Get & Keep Their Attention?
People amble in, side conversations are underway all over the room, folks are wandering around and you have to find a way to get’em focused and rolling. Using a 2×4 is frowned upon, so are you sometimes perplexed about how to get things started?
Ask an engineer what time it is and he’ll tell you how to build a watch. It’s an old and cheeky line, but not one that’s confined to any single profession. Although experts love to talk about what they know, it turns out that less is indeed more. A lot of these tips lean towards business, but they apply just as much to the public sector:
Here are the five most common presentation mistakes:
Twitter’s a 24-Hour Party
Some social media is tough for a few of us to understand. Let’s face it…it’s a new way of thinking and interacting that just didn’t exist before.
I ran across the following article that put one piece of social media architecture into perspective for me. I think it’ll also make sense to you:
Losing & Building Credibility
Your personal cred is constantly in motion. Subtly or dramatically, you’re always either gaining or losing it and the same goes for your organization. Here are five clear ways to lose it:
And while on the subject of credibility (and hubris), the Harvard Business Review has their own take on General David Petraeus, little David and company:
Toodles to ’12 & Hope for ’13
In our final farewell to 2012, I’d like to offer last year’s funniest tweets…
A list of last year’s 10 best and 10 worst communicators…
And hope for 2013…
IAP2’s Open Certificate and Emotion, Outrage & Public Participation Courses for 2013
Public opposition, anger, protest and conflict are facts of life and they’ve changed the rules of engagement. You’ll know how to manage them after taking the two-day IAP2 Emotion, Emotion, Outrage and Public Participation (EOP2) class.
Crafted with Peter Sandman, the world’s foremost authority on risk communication, this workshop is hands-on, practical and has never been more relevant. We’re offering it in Tempe on February 18 and 19, 2013. Come to Arizona, bring your significant other(s), bag some rays and leave with new skills.
The IAP2 Public Participation Certificate course also will be offered in Arizona in February. This is the class for anyone who manages or works in public involvement. You’ll learn what works, what doesn’t, why and what to do about it.
February highs in Arizona push 70 degrees and there are activities galore. The course location is in Tempe on the light rail line near tons of shopping, dining and entertainment. I hope you can join us.
IAP2 Public Emotion and Outrage class:
- February 18/19 in Tempe (Phoenix) AZ
- March 14/15 in Calgary
- April 25/26 in Toronto
- September 5/6 in Chicago
- October 10/11 in Calgary
IAP2 Certificate class:
- February 25 – March 1 in Tempe, AZ
- July 22 – 26 in Milwaukee
- October 28 – November 1 in Chicago
We also customize the EOP2 class and bring it to you in-house for your agency’s specific issues. Call me for more information or a referral to one of our current or past clients.
For existing U.S. class registrations click on:
http://www.extraordinarytrainers.com/schedules/
For existing Canada class registrations click on:
http://www.rmdelaney.com/training/iap2-certificate-training-program/
Please pass this on to someone that you think might benefit from one of these workshops or would like to start getting this newsletter (we never SPAM anybody and subscribing/unsubscribing is easy).