Business executive using megaphone
Goya’s board of directors finally had enough of what CEO Robert Unanue had to say to the world in support of President Donald Trump’s claims of voter fraud in the 2020 presidential election. As reported by CNN, last week the directors of the Latino food company voted to censure Unanue and prohibit him from speaking to the media without their consent.
Unanue is the latest business leader to suffer the consequences for going public with opinions and views counter to the best interests or policies of their companies and organizations.
Whether via speeches, news interviews, or social media, corporate executives who give public voice to their private thoughts can inflict serious damage on their image, credibility, and career prospects—not to mention the reputation, relations with customers, and the bottom line of their organizations.
No First Amendment Rights
Contrary to what they may want to believe, company officials should not assume they can or should exercise the right to free speech that all Americans enjoy.
“It is important that business leaders understand that the First Amendment does not apply to restrictions that private companies can place on the speech of its employees,” according to Jessica N. Childress, the managing attorney and founder of the Childress Firm, an employment law firm in Washington, D.C.
“In some cases, harmful comments that an executive makes either on or off-duty can be subject to disciplinary action,” she noted.
Lack of Judgment
Among other things, corporate leaders are often hired to exercise their judgment to help ensure the success of their organizations. But when executives go public with their private opinions, their judgment can be called into question.
“When CEOs make statements that conflict with company goals, they are demonstrating, at least, a lack of judgment, or worse, a lack of belief in the values of their own company,” observed Kimberly Minor, the CEO of Bumbershoot, a consulting firm that provides cultural and market insights for clients.
“Leaders must understand the power, influence and signal of their response. And it is imperative that they appreciate that while they are entitled to personal opinion, it is just that—personal. At the end of the day, [CEOs] are still representatives of a company that is paying their salary. A company will and must consider its brand and its bottom line, and those who endanger it are in danger themselves,” she said.
Lindsay Riddell is the senior vice president for executive and corporate communications at Hotwire, a global tech communications consultancy. She noted, “...executives need to know they will be held accountable for what they say and for following through on the action.
“The media, employees, activists are all closely scrutinizing the promises of executives to make sure they don’t go unfulfilled. Fallout, in the form of walkouts (Google) [and] boycotts (Uber) are likely to grow more common if companies aren’t keeping their promises,” Riddell said.
Advice For Business Leaders
Three Key Questions
Liviu Tanase, the founder and CEO of email validation platform ZeroBounce, said, “Expressing one’s opinions is natural, but when you’re in a high-ranking position, you’re forced to think twice about the impact your comments may have on your company. It’s a responsibility. A healthy way to determine whether you should or should not make a controversial comment is to ask yourself:
- Could this jeopardize my company’s reputation?
- Will it affect the work of my entire team?
- Most importantly, is my public position helping anyone?”
He observed, “The answer to these questions should offer enough context and reveal the right path to take. Oftentimes, expressing a strong opinion is a matter of ego—and when you’re in a leading position, one of the things you have to learn is to tame your ego.”
Other Considerations
Hotwire’s Riddell said business leaders should keep the following recommendations in mind before they go public with their personal thoughts or opinions.
The Right Priority. Employees and your stakeholders should be the priority. When challenging situations arise, executives who put their own people first and demonstrate empathy in these critical moments will be better positioned.
Values And Policies. Root your communications in your values and your policies—and follow through with them. These are the makings of an authentic leader, in the good times and the bad. Let’s hope there are more good times this year.
Alignment. What executives and leaders say must be true, and must align to a companies’ values. Those values should be reinforced with every communication.
Internal Communications. Understand that all written internal communications need to be treated like external communications. CEOs need to be prepared for key stakeholders to call out misalignments between brand values and action. Then they need to bring in the right people from their [team] before addressing sensitive issues. This ensures internal alignment to confirm the response will be authentic to the business and its values.
