It started almost three years ago at a Wal-Mart in Kennett, a small town in southeast Missouri. A black college student, moved into a faster moving check-out lane, joining her cousin, and moving ahead of a white customer.
The young woman is now a school teacher and has insisted on vindication in a court room.
The clerk called a manager who called Kennett Police and both ordered the belligerent young woman to leave the store, although she wanted to pay for her merchandise. Police followed her or escorted her to the parking lot, depending on which version you believe. It was there, officers allege, she resisted arrest and kicked and hit two officers, leading to the charges that are scheduled to go to trial this week.
This is one of those situations where the victim/perpetrator loses no matter what.
So does the town of Kennett and Wal-Mart loses, too. Unless, cooler heads prevail, and everyone is wise enough to say "I'm sorry" and each admits they've made mistakes and have learned from the experience.
Wal-Mart apparently believes it is simply the "location" of a problem between a hot-headed youngster and the "authorities."
In the only statement I've seen from Wal-Mart, a spokesperson said, "Incidents involving our customers are unfortunate and we take them seriously." Corporate spokesman Lorenzo Lopez added, "In this matter, there was a disturbance and law enforcement was contacted, in accordance with our normal procedures. The police then determined how to proceed."
Someone at Wal-Mart is probably looking at the mostly white residents and customers of Kennett, MO, population 11,000, and thinking a conviction of this woman, won't hurt their image nor their business in that market, nor in the majority of mostly small-town Wal-Marts across America. And, they may be right.
But, the Police Chief and the Prosecutor, the young woman and Wal-Mart have allowed this "story" to live for nearly three years. The community is getting an image as a back-water, racist community. The police department thinks its righteous, but many outsiders don't.
The young woman may have experienced discrimination at that store, that day, or somewhere else before that day. And in one sense she may deserve an apology.
However, we all get upset when someone "jumps the line," no matter what color, age or gender they are. There is evidence she lost her cool and physically lashed out at two officers. They may deserve an apology.
And a better trained and more sensitive Wal-Mart manager probably could have defused the tension at the check-out lane and saved the company, the community and an angry young customer from nearly three years of fussing and bad feelings and negative publicity.
The bottom line for a company like Wal-Mart and for a police department, large or small, is to take the "conflict" out of a situation and story, not feed the conflict, as has been done in this case.
Monday, November 16, 2009
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
Leaders Didn't Notice Missing Cash
The not-for profit Big Brothers Big Sisters chapter in Lexington, KY is out $435,000, apparently embezzled by a former office manager, who forged checks to four accomplices over the span of year. About half of the pilfered money was taken in the two months before a bank employee became suspicious and notified the Board President.
To make matters worse, charitable giving has been down for the past year, and earlier this year the agency laid off a half-dozen staff and the remaining staff took a seven-percent pay cut. The Lexington Herald-Leader reported: ". . .even as they pinched pennies, nobody in the executive office or on the 28-member board noticed nearly half-a-million dollars being siphoned from the agency's accounts."
There are several lessons to be learned from this situation. All the standard book-keeping practices in the world are useless if someone is not following them and paying attention.
When the staff is not doing its job, the Board has a responsibility to notice and ask what's going on. If you agree to serve on a Board and all you want is to pad your social resume, shame on you. If you don't want to make "waves" go lay on a beach somewhere and don't take up space on the board of a worthwhile organization.
All of that probably isn't going to help, but I feel better having said it. This is not the first time an employee of a significant not-for-profit organization has taken advantage of people's good will. We at ICM, have helped a number of such organizations through this.
Now, the real lessons. Activate your crisis management team. Determine what processes broke down and why no one noticed and take responsibility for it. Be prepared to meet with staff and key volunteers, major funding sources and the clients of your agency. Do that before they read about it in the local newspaper or see the story on TV. Take responsibility for what happened and be prepared to explain in general terms what is being done to make sure it never happens again.
In each of those meetings be prepared to reassure each of those stakeholders how you're going to maintain service or what cuts will be necessary and for how long service will be curtailed.
DO NOT whine and complain and blame anyone else. The person who stole the money is only slightly more responsible, because the management and overseers of not-for-profits are assumed to be paying attention and when anything out of the ordinary happens those people should be investigating and demanding answers and solutions.
The founder of ICM and I were helping a major not-for-profit who had been the victim of only a $50,000 theft. Before the loss became public, the crisis team had been working for a week on what to do and say. At one meeting the chief fund raiser said enthusiastically, the loss was "an opportunity" for a special fund raising campaign to play on the sympathy of the community. ICM Founder Bob Irvine had one knee on the conference table on his way to "shake" the fund raiser when I got my hand on his belt and pulled him back into his chair. We still laugh about it, but that was not a good idea.
The news media seldom ask all the right questions, but that doesn't mean the Board should do the same. A non-profit has to file an annual report, usually compiled by an outside accounting firm. That report includes a sworn affidavit that affirms the books are in order. It always amazes me that no reporter ever asks how that annual audit could miss something as big as 400,000 misappropriated funds and the follow-up question "are you going to replace that auditing company?"
To make matters worse, charitable giving has been down for the past year, and earlier this year the agency laid off a half-dozen staff and the remaining staff took a seven-percent pay cut. The Lexington Herald-Leader reported: ". . .even as they pinched pennies, nobody in the executive office or on the 28-member board noticed nearly half-a-million dollars being siphoned from the agency's accounts."
There are several lessons to be learned from this situation. All the standard book-keeping practices in the world are useless if someone is not following them and paying attention.
When the staff is not doing its job, the Board has a responsibility to notice and ask what's going on. If you agree to serve on a Board and all you want is to pad your social resume, shame on you. If you don't want to make "waves" go lay on a beach somewhere and don't take up space on the board of a worthwhile organization.
All of that probably isn't going to help, but I feel better having said it. This is not the first time an employee of a significant not-for-profit organization has taken advantage of people's good will. We at ICM, have helped a number of such organizations through this.
Now, the real lessons. Activate your crisis management team. Determine what processes broke down and why no one noticed and take responsibility for it. Be prepared to meet with staff and key volunteers, major funding sources and the clients of your agency. Do that before they read about it in the local newspaper or see the story on TV. Take responsibility for what happened and be prepared to explain in general terms what is being done to make sure it never happens again.
In each of those meetings be prepared to reassure each of those stakeholders how you're going to maintain service or what cuts will be necessary and for how long service will be curtailed.
DO NOT whine and complain and blame anyone else. The person who stole the money is only slightly more responsible, because the management and overseers of not-for-profits are assumed to be paying attention and when anything out of the ordinary happens those people should be investigating and demanding answers and solutions.
The founder of ICM and I were helping a major not-for-profit who had been the victim of only a $50,000 theft. Before the loss became public, the crisis team had been working for a week on what to do and say. At one meeting the chief fund raiser said enthusiastically, the loss was "an opportunity" for a special fund raising campaign to play on the sympathy of the community. ICM Founder Bob Irvine had one knee on the conference table on his way to "shake" the fund raiser when I got my hand on his belt and pulled him back into his chair. We still laugh about it, but that was not a good idea.
The news media seldom ask all the right questions, but that doesn't mean the Board should do the same. A non-profit has to file an annual report, usually compiled by an outside accounting firm. That report includes a sworn affidavit that affirms the books are in order. It always amazes me that no reporter ever asks how that annual audit could miss something as big as 400,000 misappropriated funds and the follow-up question "are you going to replace that auditing company?"
Monday, October 26, 2009
Blogs: A Hoax and a Revenge Blog Attack Which One Is Worse?
The answer – Neither, they’re both bad.
President Obama and Rush Limbaugh, and consequently his radio audience, were all victims in the blog hoax. A blogger made-up a satirical post on a so-called humor blog.
In it, the blogger wrote that Time Magazine writer Joe Klein had received ten pages of President Obama’s college thesis. In that thesis the blogger claimed that Obama, the college student, had doubts about the “so-called founders” of our country and suggested that the future president showed “disdain” for the United States Constitution.
The blog entry somehow ended up in Rush Limbaugh’s in-box and he used it as another club to beat-up on the President he wants to fail. After an hour or more of ranting about how right he had been (no pun intended) about the inadequacy of Obama to be president, someone finally did some fact checking and alerted Limbaugh that it was a hoax.
Limbaugh did not apologize, rather he defended his poor judgment by saying the blog post “felt true.”
What if that phony story had been written about you or your business or organization and some local reporter or editor picked it up and passed it on as fact without checking first?
And then there’s the continuing fall-out from ESPN’s firing of sports commentator Steve Phillips. He was dismissed because he got caught in a sexual “impropriety.” By the way, dad or mom, how will you answer your Little Leaguer’s question, “Mom, what is an impropriety?”
That story took a new twist last week when another blogger complained that ESPN had lied to him two months ago. A. J. Daulerio, editor of Deadspin.com, a sports blog, says he asked ESPN Sept. 9 if Phillips was going to be fired the next day. A PR person for ESPN told him the rumor was wrong.
The problem is, the response was true at the time, but six weeks later on Oct. 25 it was no longer a rumor, but fact. Now Daulerio is accused of trying to get even because he got beat on the story. He has posted articles alleging sexual liaisons and harassment by other ESPN employees and inconsistent punishment
Welcome to the Social Media World.
The point of this blog is to challenge you to think about the “what ifs” this happened to you, your boss, your organization or business. In today’s world, this kind of social media attack is as real as a tornado in Kansas or a hurricane in Florida. You cannot wait to be surprised when the blog comes ashore on your turf.
If you have begun planning for this type of crisis, I and my readers would appreciate hearing about it.
President Obama and Rush Limbaugh, and consequently his radio audience, were all victims in the blog hoax. A blogger made-up a satirical post on a so-called humor blog.
In it, the blogger wrote that Time Magazine writer Joe Klein had received ten pages of President Obama’s college thesis. In that thesis the blogger claimed that Obama, the college student, had doubts about the “so-called founders” of our country and suggested that the future president showed “disdain” for the United States Constitution.
The blog entry somehow ended up in Rush Limbaugh’s in-box and he used it as another club to beat-up on the President he wants to fail. After an hour or more of ranting about how right he had been (no pun intended) about the inadequacy of Obama to be president, someone finally did some fact checking and alerted Limbaugh that it was a hoax.
Limbaugh did not apologize, rather he defended his poor judgment by saying the blog post “felt true.”
What if that phony story had been written about you or your business or organization and some local reporter or editor picked it up and passed it on as fact without checking first?
And then there’s the continuing fall-out from ESPN’s firing of sports commentator Steve Phillips. He was dismissed because he got caught in a sexual “impropriety.” By the way, dad or mom, how will you answer your Little Leaguer’s question, “Mom, what is an impropriety?”
That story took a new twist last week when another blogger complained that ESPN had lied to him two months ago. A. J. Daulerio, editor of Deadspin.com, a sports blog, says he asked ESPN Sept. 9 if Phillips was going to be fired the next day. A PR person for ESPN told him the rumor was wrong.
The problem is, the response was true at the time, but six weeks later on Oct. 25 it was no longer a rumor, but fact. Now Daulerio is accused of trying to get even because he got beat on the story. He has posted articles alleging sexual liaisons and harassment by other ESPN employees and inconsistent punishment
Welcome to the Social Media World.
The point of this blog is to challenge you to think about the “what ifs” this happened to you, your boss, your organization or business. In today’s world, this kind of social media attack is as real as a tornado in Kansas or a hurricane in Florida. You cannot wait to be surprised when the blog comes ashore on your turf.
If you have begun planning for this type of crisis, I and my readers would appreciate hearing about it.
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