Hitting the issue before it hits you

The Coutts Forum for Entrepreneurs was held to debate the role of today’s business leaders and how their personalities and reputations can make or break the companies they run.

The evening was an opportunity to preview the findings of a major new report to be published by Coutts & Co in 2008.

The report’s author, Michael Hayman, Chief Executive of The Communication Group plc, provided a keynote address on some of the initial findings, covering issues such as the changing dynamics of public scrutiny, trial by media and the rise of the celebrity CEO.

He has spent the last nine months interviewing business leaders, politicians and the media and the report includes contributions by:

• The Earl of Home
• The Rt Hon The Lord Heseltine
• Peter Kellner, Chairman, YouGov
• Sir Max Hastings, Former Daily Telegraph Editor
• Doug Richard, Serial entrepreneur and former panelist on Dragon’s Den
• Alasdair Pepper, Senior Partner, Carter Ruck
  
  

The presentation was followed by a lively Q&A session when Michael was joined by a panel of experts:

• Doug Richard, serial entrepreneur and former panellist on Dragon’s Den
• Peter Kellner, Chairman of leading market research organisation YouGov
• Sue Cameron, Financial Times journalist and former presenter of BBC2’s Newsnight
• Peter Waine, founder of the specialist executive and non-executive search consultancy, Hanson Green

Attendees were giving the opportunity to debate the report findings and gain advice on dealing with a reputational crisis and the media. Below is a summary of the discussion points raised.

Q: How do you think the media is changing due to the power of the people, through online channels, such as blogs?

Sue Cameron: Amongst the media more people are taking notice. Blogs still don’t have as much impact and don’t get the same coverage as traditional media, no matter how interesting or consistent they are. The whole medium is diversifying at a rapid rate.

Doug Richard: Blogs cause national media to pick up stories they normally wouldn’t. In the US blogs such as Perez Hilton’s actually moves the mainstream news and forces the media to take a stance and grade the story. If you had a story that was going to be harder to push you could even try starting it in the blogosphere.

Peter Kellner: I agree with Sue. It is important to consider what is the scale and nature of the audience of the blogs. For example, blogs against Tesco don’t affect its substantial reputation. But in the world of opinion polling there are two or three blogs that I really watch. They keep us straight and honest.

Michael Hayman: In the report a lot of CEOs view it as a bit of a blind sight. If they are monitoring the right channels the internet can have the shareholders better prepared about their business than themselves.

Peter Waine: The vast majority of business leaders in corporate life are below this line of entertainment. For every Stuart Rose and Philip Green there are many CEOs doing a lot of work who wouldn’t count in this bracket.

Doug Richard: However, any one of those people has the potential risk that they may be in the public eye and that just wasn’t the case twenty years ago.

Michael Hayman: Certainly. And those who are not in the public domain are spending money trying to get there.

Q: Stories are what the public want and people are the best way of bringing stories to life, so what do you have to do to be a hero?  Surely it is better to take the risk?

Sue Cameron: You must get out there and take the risk and you must have a strategy. The fact is you are fine until it hits you. You need to do something with the media to ensure you have credit in the bank when you might need it. In my opinion you don’t necessarily have to be a hero or villain.

Q: Why can Richard Branson do no wrong in the eyes of the media and the public?

Peter Kellner: People don’t think of him as a normal business man, he doesn’t dress or sound like one and that has served him well.

Doug Richard: The answer is its hard work. There is absolutely an opportunity for every business leader to build the same reputation, but it requires will power. You must decide your boundaries and make sure you don’t stray from them. He has invested a great deal of time and effort which has led to his success.

Michael Hayman: I think there are elements of luck as well. He has been accessible, a maverick and very smart in his decisions.

Q: How do you protect yourself against your board and reduce your risk from board level?

Michael Hayman: Intangible assets are more important than ever, with a distinct correlation between reputation and value. You can’t divorce yourself from the person that is running your business.

Peter Kellner: You must protect yourself and never allow the situation to arise that someone leaving your company has any amount of ammunition on you or your company.

Q: Take the case of Gerald Ratner - should he not change the brand name to divorce himself from the previous bad press he received?

Michael Hayman: It is rarely the case that anyone’s reputation is too damaged to be repaired.

Doug Richard: He has an uncommonly great brand opportunity. He has the reputation and famous story to build on. You must always start with a story, as people respond best to stories and his is that of the come back kid.