CEOs need help building trust

CEOs might look at this and think, “I know how to build trust”–”my people trust me”.  But,  a new survey found that “C-level execs are far less likely to acknowledge other people’s feelings and show other people that they care.“  So, you might be a reliable, open, and competent leader, but until you can demonstrate to others that you care, you cannot demonstrate total trust.

This study looked at over 38,000 leaders to discover that caring was the missing ingredient.  They found that CEOs just don’t know how to manage conflict, which is surprising.  They suggest that CEOs could acknowledging that the other person is unhappy or just let them know that you care about them.  Very simple things to do to demonstrate caring.

We have often said that caring is the last aspect that leaders get to when building trust because it is often the hardest–it is the most vulnerable.  We have to get outside of ourselves and take an interest in another person.  We have to care about their interests as much or more than our own and we are not good at doing that.  This is why when we find a caring (and competent) leader like Bob Lintz or Mary Ellen Sheets (both profiled in our book), we wish we could clone them.

-karen

Do’s and Don’ts of Resumes and Cover Letters

I’ll be conducting a resume writing workshop at Okemos High School next week, and would love to get your input on what should and should not be included in one’s resume and cover letter.  What have you find to be most useful, either as a job-seeker or when evaluating  job candidates?

Thanks very much!

Aneil

Another facebook issue: child/parent trust…

In a study out today, large numbers of parents are “spying on their kids on Facebook” and 1 in 10 secretly log onto their kids account without permission.  Hmmm…if we’re trying to teach our kids about trust, we certainly won’t do it by betraying theirs.

As you all know, Aneil is not on Facebook any longer, so I am “friends” with our kids on Facebook, as are “Nine out of 10 parents of girls are Facebook friends with them but only 82% for parents of boys“.  Our kids know this, and they know that we will monitor their pages and usage at any moment.  They know that this is for their own security and protection, not because we want to intrude on their lives.  If we see that they are being a bit too free with their personal information, we encourage them to re-think that strategy.  For the most part, our kids have been very responsible with Facebook.

One parent at their school has become friends with many of the kids and comments on every single thing they do.  That is not me.  I won’t become a friend with my kid’s friends unless they invite me and I definitely won’t comment unless it is something unusual, like say, getting your driver’s license or winning a golf tournament.  My goal is not to be meddlesome because I believe that even that can be a betrayal of our kid’s trust.  While we love and care for our children, they should not have to worry about what every parent thinks about every single thing they say on Facebook with their friends.

-karen

Facebook’s Latest Security and Privacy Shortcomings Are the Last Straw

Update 10-18-10:

Here’s the latest from the Wall Street Journal:

Many of the most popular applications, or “apps,” on the social-networking site Facebook Inc. have been transmitting identifying information—in effect, providing access to people’s names and, in some cases, their friends’ names—to dozens of advertising and Internet tracking companies, a Wall Street Journal investigation has found.

The issue affects tens of millions of Facebook app users, including people who set their profiles to Facebook’s strictest privacy settings. The practice breaks Facebook’s rules, and renews questions about its ability to keep identifiable information about its users’ activities secure.

The problem has ties to the growing field of companies that build detailed databases on people in order to track them online—a practice the Journal has been examining in its What They Know series. It’s unclear how long the breach was in place. On Sunday, a Facebook spokesman said it is taking steps to “dramatically limit” the exposure of users’ personal information.

“A Facebook user ID may be inadvertently shared by a user’s Internet browser or by an application,” the spokesman said. Knowledge of an ID “does not permit access to anyone’s private information on Facebook,” he said, adding that the company would introduce new technology to contain the problem identified by the Journal.

 

Update 5-22-10:

Here’s Peggy Noonan’s take in today’s Wall Street Journal:

Do you want anyone who can get your address on the Internet to be able to call up a photo of your house? If you don’t, that’s unfortunate, because it’s all there on Google Street View, like it or not. Facebook has apparently taken to changing its default settings so that your information—the personal news you thought you were sharing only with friends—is available to strangers and mined for commercial data. And young people will say anything on networking sites because they’re young, because no one has taught them not to, because they’re being raised in a culture that has grown more exhibitionistic.

Update 5-19-10:

Here’s the latest on this issue from the Wall Street Journal:

Privacy advocates have called on regulators to intervene. Some frustrated users, meanwhile, have created websites that highlight what they see as shortcomings in Facebook’s privacy controls.

The site’s privacy travails have rattled Facebook employees and put pressure on Mr. Zuckerberg, who has argued for years that its users should be more open with their information. He has at times over-ruled employees who argue Facebook should make more information private, by default, according to people familiar with the matter. He has instead pushed to offer tools so users can control their information, these people said.

In recent days, executives and other employees have hunkered down in Facebook’s Silicon Valley headquarters, debating how to address the backlash to two recently launched features.  Participants are discussing whether to implement new controls that allow users to conceal their profiles more universally, according to people familiar with the matter. Such tools would represent a big shift from Facebook’s current approach of giving users multiple controls for specific parts of their profiles, and are an option Mr. Zuckerberg has resisted. On Monday, rival MySpace said it would simplify its privacy settings by giving users the option to select one privacy setting for all the information in their profiles. MySpace is owned by News Corp., as is The Wall Street Journal.

Original Post 5-5-10:

I’m deleting my Facebook Account permanently. The last straw is the news reported in the New York Times about its latest security and privacy failure:

For many users of Facebook, the world’s largest social network, it was just the latest in a string of frustrations.

On Wednesday, users discovered a glitch that gave them access to supposedly private information in the accounts of their Facebook friends, like chat conversations.

Not long before, Facebook had introduced changes that essentially forced users to choose between making information about their interests available to anyone or removing it altogether.

Although Facebook quickly moved to close the security hole on Wednesday, the breach heightened a feeling among many users that it was becoming hard to trust the service to protect their personal information.

The issue is exactly one of trust.  Although it was fun to reconnect with old friends and keep up with current ones through this social medium, but it’s no longer worth the hassles or the risk.

See you here instead, or on Twitter!

Aneil

What can churches learn from the Gap?

I discovered an interesting website this week about church marketing.  It found me first because I answered a HARO request (which we love) about the Gap logo fiasco.  My answer is here on their blog, churchmarketingsucks.com.

This is a topic (church marketing) near and dear to my heart since  I have always been on the marketing communications committee at (almost) every church I’ve ever gone to.  I remember trying to convince one church I went to that we needed a website–gasp, horror!  why?!  Now, I look back and can’t believe that we ever had that conversation.  How do young people find your church if you are not on the web?!

Anyway, I encourage you to read Michael’s post about logo lessons for churches.

Our pastor recently mentioned that he wants to tighten up the church’s mission statement to make it easier for people to remember.  This would probably help the church brand itself.  Which reminds me–we’ve been going to this church for about one year and I don’t even know if it has a logo.

Does your church (or temple) have a logo?  Do you like it?

-karen

In Gap we Trust?

Last night I wrote:

Gap has a new logo and its loyal customers are NOT happy about it.  Gap probably thought it was time for a tune-up, but there are some things you don’t mess with, and when you have strong equity in your logo, that is one thing you don’t mess with, as the Gap is finding out.

One of the reasons we trust a brand is because we can rely on that brand and logo to be consistent and stand for something.  In one forum, a consumer said that the traditional Gap logo represented an aspirational level of clothing to her that she wanted, but the new logo did not.  To her, then, the old Gap logo meant that she could trust the merchandise that she was getting–she could trust the brand to represent not only the image she wanted, but a type of clothing, a certain atmosphere in the store–a package that she wanted.  Without the logo, she doubted it was the same Gap.

By making such a drastic change, Gap has betrayed our trust.  They have become

1) unreliable–by changing when we didn’t want them to

2) dishonest–by not telling us why they were going to change the logo

3) incompetent–by making a disasterous change, and

4) uncompassionate–by not caring about how consumers would feel about the logo

To make up for their mistake, the Gap is resorting to a crowdsourcing method of fixing the logo by asking for input from consumers to fix their mess, but it might be too little, too late.

this morning:

Gap must have been listening to everyone who shared their feelings about this new logo because they have pulled the new logo and have gone back to the old one.  Here is their statement which addresses the energy and passion they discovered consumers have about their brand.  I only teach marketing, but this is what I learned at the seat of Coke’s new coke fiasco–it pays to ask consumers how much passion they have for your brand before you go making changes to it, or else they will 1) come back and tell you loud and clear how they feel, or 2) walk away.  I personally like the Gap, so I hope their consumers don’t walk away.  I guess we’ll have to watch and find out what happens.

-karen

Learning to trust other drivers all over again

As we are teaching our 16-year old to drive, I’m finding that I am worried about other drivers more than I am worried about her.  She has come a long way since she started drivers ed and is going to be a fine driver.  Unfortunately, I cannot say the same for the other drivers she has to look out for as she practices when I am in the car with her.  Since she has started driving, I have noticed that other drivers are more careless, more daring, more thoughtless, and overall–less trustworthy than I had thought about in a very long time.

As I teach her how to drive carefully through an intersection, cars coming from the opposite direction do not drive carefully.  They pull right in front of her, not giving her much time to react.

As I teach her how to move from one lane to another, reminding her to give herself plenty of time to change lanes, do the headcheck and look for other cars, we see other cars pull in front of her as if they did not see her there, and then get angry at her for being there, even though she did everything the way that she should have.

As I teach her how to slow down to look before she turns on a red light (where she can legally turn on a red light), the car behind her honks and gives her the finger when she doesn’t turn fast enough.

Maggie–I am not worried about, but how am I supposed to teach her to trust other drivers if I cannot trust them myself?

-karen

Five Critical Mistakes Hospitals Make When Downsizing

I was recently interviewed by Rachel Fields of Becker’s Hospital Review about downsizing in hospital settings.   Here are some highlights:

The downsizing process is a difficult transition for any hospital, but there are certain mistakes
that can turn an already-tough process into a public and internal relations disaster. Here Aneil
Mishra, PhD, professor and director of executive education at Michigan State University’s
School of Human Resources and Labor Relations and Denice Higman, founder and president of
Soyring Consulting, discuss five critical mistakes hospitals make when laying off employees.

 

1. Hiring a consultant to deliver the bad news.
2. Giving different information to administrators, employees and the public.
3. Trying to “do more with less.”
4. Failing to address the downsizing with remaining employees.
5. Stating an exact number of planned layoffs.

A PDF of the interview can be downloaded here.

Aneil

Violating Trust Can Cost You Billions, Literally

We know that violating trust can often result in significant negative consequences:  emotional trauma, lost friendships, and even lawsuits.  Here’s evidence it can even cost real money, as in almost seven billion dollars.

PARIS — Jérôme Kerviel, the former Société Générale trader whose rogue dealings almost brought about the French bank’s demise, was convicted of breach of trust and other crimes Tuesday and sentenced to at least three years in prison.

Mr. Kerviel, 33, was also ordered to pay restitution of €4.9 billion, or $6.7 billion — the entire amount the bank lost in unwinding his trades in early 2008.

Mr. Kerviel was sentenced to five years, with two suspended, and barred for life from working in financial services. Wearing a dark suit, black tie and starched white shirt, he stood impassively while the verdict was read, betraying no emotion.

Caroline Guillaumin, a spokeswoman for Société Générale, said the damage award was a “symbolic” sum that the bank did not expect would be paid.

“But it is important, and we are satisfied, because it recognizes that the entirety of the bank’s losses are attributed to Jérôme Kerviel’s actions,” she said.

Mr. Kerviel’s lawyer, Olivier Metzner, said he would appeal immediately. “This judgment is totally unreasonable,” he said outside the court. “It suggests that the bank is not responsible for anything, that no system of control could have prevented this.”

Regardless of how the responsibility will actually be apportioned, this is a strong example that violating the trust that has been placed in us can result in life-long consequences.

Aneil

Apple iPhone 4 Promixity Sensor Problem? Read On!

Have you had any of the following problems with your iPhone 4:  Inadvertently muting, Hanging Up, engaging the speaker phone or dialing others when talking?  Read on!

Update 9-28-11:

If you’re having problems synching your iPhone calendar with Google Calendar, here are some solutions.

Update 4-22-11:

According to one of our blog readers who comments below, the proximity sensor has been redesigned.  Has anyone purchased an iPhone 4 recently who can comment on their experiences.

Update 4-1-11

It appears that cradling the phone between my head and neck exacerbates the proximity sensor problem. When I hold the phone parallel to my head sitting or standing upright, I don’t have the problem.  Maybe the gyroscope or whatever its equivalent in the iPhone doesn’t like the phone to be held at an angle.

Update 1-24-11:

I’ve had occasional problems with the proximity sensor in the past few weeks, perhaps a couple of times per week, but still not nearly as bad as my first iPhone 4.

Update 11-25-10:

So far, so good.  I may have had a few instances in which the proximity sensor didn’t work, but I’m not sure.  After scores of calls, however, it’s not really a problem, and with the 4.2 iOS update, perhaps I won’t have any more problems.  Plus, I can now print directly from my iPhone 4 to this printer, including attachments.  How cool is that?!

Update 11-10:

Karen’s Blackberry Curve died over the weekend, necessitating a new phone.  I convinced her to try an iPhone after reading mediocre reviews of the Blackberry Torch, especially regarding Gmail.  She agreed, but decided to take my iPhone 3GS, and have me get an iPhone 4.  I’ve had it for three days now, with none of the proximity sensor problems so far.

Update 10-19-10:

I think I’ll be waiting for the iPhone 5 release next summer.

Update 10-1-10:

The proximity sensor problem was NOT fixed with latest iOS update, which means there’s no reason for me to upgrade my phone.

Update 8-23-10:

The proximity sensor problem is still not fixed, and may not be with the latest software update.   I’m going to wait until they come out with a 64 GB version of the iPhone 4, when they will have presumably finally fixed all the glitches in the original iPhone 4.

Update 7-26-10 — iPhone 4 returned.

After enduring repeated problems with the sensor while traveling in Seattle, I returned the phone yesterday at my local Okemos, MI  AT&T store.  The assistant manager, with whom I’ve talked about this problem several times, stated once again that most of customers have not reported any problems with the phone, but “since it is manufactured in China, that is probably why some of the phones are defective.”  Nice.  I then was told that I would have to get the refund for my $69 AppleCare warranty from Apple unless I had all the proper packaging including the AppleCare serial number, which I did have and so was able to get a refund on the spot.

During the entire 15-20 minutes it took to get the refunds, I witnessed the assistant manager chastise one his employees for allowing one of their customers to see the computer screen that the employee was reading in order to convince the customer that her monthly minutes had not been used up.  “We can’t let you see the computer screen because it might contain notes on you we don’t want you to see.”  Wonderful.

It’s so “nice” to see AT&T not trusting its own customers while taking notes on us that might be objectionable.  You can see where my remaining loyalty to AT&T is going…

Aneil

Update 7-16-10:

Here’s my interview in AOL News about this problem.

Steve Jobs admits there’s a problem:

By AppleInsider Staff

Published: 01:40 PM EST

Apple Chief Executive Steve Jobs said on Friday that his company is aware of problems with the proximity sensor on the iPhone 4, and that they are working on a software fix that is expected to be included in the next iOS update.

The statements from Jobs were the first official confirmation from Apple on the issue that users have been experiencing since the handset first launched in late June. Users have found that the touchscreen on their iPhone 4 will sometimes activate while on a call, resulting in accidentally pressed buttons that can place a call on hold or even end it.

Update 7-16-10:

Apple is holding a press conference about its iPhone 4 problems today.  According to the Wall Street Journal, the company has several options, including:

4. Offer a Real Fix to Consumers Now
Even if only a few vocal consumers are hit with dropped calls, those consumers need to be placated. One option is a recall — a redesign of the phone and a replacement for anyone who wants one. Another is an in-store fix that would involve the application of something to mitigate the effects of the “death grip.” Apple also could offer its iPhone “bumper” for free.

In any case, it’s worth it to Apple, and everyone else, to do something now to make this issue go away. A fix that can’t be implemented immediately will slow sales and anger customers.

And a discounted case would not be enough. New York Senator Chuck Schumer even sent a letter to Mr. Jobs on Thursday insisting that the company “make a public commitment” to remedy the problem “free of charge.”

Aneil

Update 7-9-10:

, NOT!!

I had nothing but trouble with the Proximity Sensor today.  An Apple Care tech support person recommending a complete Restore, which required me to wipe everything from my iPhone and start over, and may have fixed the problem, but it caused another problem, which prevented me from syncing my songs or my apps.  I then had to contact tech support again, which led to this problem, which I reported via Apple’s email feedback option:

I was placed on hold and had given the support person my call-back number.  I was disconnected after being on hold for several minutes, and the person has yet to call back after several hours.  I believe I have found a way to fix the problem myself in the meantime.

I have spent a total of several hours now trying to fix two problems associated with my new iPhone 4.  After near-flawless performance from my iPhone 3GS over the past year, and now nothing but trouble with this new phone, and two tech support people that are uninformed about the problems, and now unresponsive, I am very disappointed in Apple’s product and service quality.

Aneil K. Mishra, Ph.D.

Aneil

Original Post 7-8-10:

I just received my iPhone 4 in the mail yesterday, proudly set up all by myself, even though it took almost an hour to re-synch contacts, reinstall all my thousands of songs on iTunes, and get my apps updated and in all the folders I had on my iPhone 3GS.

Then, the trouble started.  I was talking with someone, and all of a sudden she couldn’t hear me even though I could hear her.  It turns out, my cheek had accidentally hit the mute button, but didn’t know that the time.  Today, the problem, and similar ones, such as accidentally dialing another person while I’m talking to someone, accidentally hitting the speaker button, all because the phone didn’t realize my cheek was touching the phone.

Karen, the Chief Budget Officer who reluctantly approves my never-ending requests for new technology, was not happy when these problems occurred while I was talking to her this afternoon.  I needed to get it fixed, pronto.

A description of the problem can be found here.