116: A proposal for corporate America, being gender-diverse in the workplace, when the Challenger sale doesn't work, and quacks
Happy weekend, friends.
Personal news: We've moved into the new house! Yay.
Excuse me while I disappear into a black hole of nesting...
In this edition of The World's Best Newsletter:
1. Edelman employees take a stand
2. A “complex network of horribles” in corporate America
3. The Woman Who Started Gender Reveals Has a New POV
4. What it's like to be gender-diverse in the workplace (HBR)
5. I love the Challenger sale, except when I don't.
6. How to be a beginner
7. Quote of the week - quacks, charlatans, and jingos
Let's do it, then I'm going to Home Depot (again).
1. Edelman employees take a stand
Edelman, whose research on trust I often reference, dropped a client this week over their tie to the border detention centers, giving all brands a masterclass on aligning to values and making hard decisions in the face of controversial public issues.
The client was "a private prisons company [the GEO Group] with contracts from the Trump administration to run immigrant detention centers" and the move was triggered by the company's employees, who report:
"Edelman reconsidered because of concerns that news of its relationship with the prison company would be leaked, leaving one of the world’s leading public relations firms with a potential public relations crisis."
This example begs the question, what should guide a company's ethical decision-making? Read on:
2. A “complex network of horribles” in corporate America
“The corporate entity is obligated to care only about itself and to define what is good as what makes it more money,”
says Jamie Gamble, a retired corporate lawyer covered in the NYTimes this week, who feels our boardrooms have become sociopathic.
“Pretty close to a textbook case of antisocial personality disorder. And corporate persons are the most powerful people in our world.”
He's recently written a firsthand POV on the problem based on his experience, a "complex network of horribles" in corporate America.
Companies, he suggests, should “adopt a binding set of ethical rules, approved by stockholders and addressing the key ethical dimensions of corporate life” including:
Their “relationships with employees.”
Their “relationships with the communities in which they produce and sell.”
Their “relationships with customers.”
Their “effects on the environment.”
And their “effects on future generations.”
A binding set of ethical rules feels in-line with the recent high-profile moves of brands to react to societal issues -- border wall, feminism, etc -- but more accountable, as it forces them to take actions beyond lip service. Marketers should see this kind of agreement as a long-term opportunity, but I fear many boardrooms will likely see it as short-term risk.
3. The Woman Who Started Gender Reveals Has a New POV
So, the well-intentioned mom who had the "first viral gender reveal" on social media is now singing a different toon after her daughter, "who inspired the gender-reveal cake with pink icing inside, is now exploring nonbinary expressions of herself." - via Buzzfeed
Look: Gender is a spectrum, it exists as a construct, and reveals are, well, weird, evidenced by my favorite meme on the subject:
4. What it's like to be gender-diverse in the workplace (HBR)
Research shows that people who don’t conform to the gender binary are often mistreated by their colleagues, their managers, or HR. Some get fired, demoted, or shut out of the labor market altogether. If fewer people thought gender was restricted to “man” and “woman,” there’d be less discrimination, and we could all express ourselves however we want to.
I love this Harvard Business Review piece.
"Lily Zheng talks about what she’s learned from studying the workplace experiences of people who identify as trans, nonbinary, genderfluid, butch, or gender-diverse in some other way. She also points out how the gender binary can restrict cis people. Then she gives advice to managers and peers on how to be respectful and supportive of gender-diverse colleagues."
Read or listen here.
5. I love the Challenger sale, except when I don't.
Provoking your prospects and leading with unexpected insights are effective tactics when you’re trying to convince your buyer to change their status quo.
But research shows that using a provocative, challenging message with existing customers—when you’re trying to renew or expand business with them—will actually backfire, increasing your risk of losing them to your competitors by at least 10-16 percent.
Read Corporate Visions' "What You Need to Know About the Challenger Sales Model"
6. How to be a beginner
My friend Claire shared this, a fun article about one person's process of getting better at outdoor activities. But, I found the lessons within relevant to anyone trying something new.
The author's right... "It takes skill to have no idea what you're doing." It requires us to suspend our ego, to find community, and when we hit a place of success, to give back.
7. Quote of the week - quacks, charlatans, and jingos
"A nation whose citizens have no knowledge of history is asking to be led by quacks, charlatans, and jingos." - Eric Alterman in The New Yorker, referencing a century-old warning by Walter Lippmann.
His piece "The Decline of Historical Thinking" is a must-read, full of truths stemming from the fact that "some people have the resources to try to understand our society while most do not."
Quack.
Have a great weekend, and thanks as always for reading.
- Katie
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