Prince Harry is the wit in a sea of English Breakfast tea, the tingling gin and tonic at lunchtime on a humid day. He has never tried to project an image of being anything but what he is: a rogue. The pictures capture the Prince Harry we know. More of him than we ever expected to see, but nothing, we expect, that will ruin his reputation. (Though it might reduce the number of his official duties….indefinitely.)
Reputation management is ultimately about being authentic. Prince Harry’s Las Vegas vacation may not be representative of Royal tradition, but he has never been traditional. Even Royals are human; Harry, especially so.
Fareed Zakaria rose quickly into the rarefied strata of the prominent public intellectual after he authored a Newsweek cover story (“Why They Hate Us”) on the 9/11 attacks. He’s an extraordinarily prolific writer, hosts a television program, and makes frequent public appearances.
As reported by The New York Times, he recently experienced a reputational crisis after several paragraphs in one of his columns for Time magazine featured several paragraphs that were almost identical to a New Yorker article.
The incident was judged a one-time event—a mistake from an over-committed writer—after several publications undertook a thorough review of his past work.
Mr. Zakaria has since cut back on engagements. It is worth emphasizing the lesson he gives us—expanding your brand across platforms offers visibility, but it is important that all material reflects your values.
Earlier this month CNN’s Anderson Cooper revealed that he is gay in a letter to The Daily Beast’s Andrew Sullivan.
According to the Huffington Post, Cooper’s decision to officially come out followed “a long discussion with his team making sure he wasn’t committing career suicide.” With rumors that Cooper may soon marry, that letter could be part of a larger plan to open up about his personal life while closely managing the tone and context of that revelation.
A Good Choice
The decision to make the announcement was a good choice. “I’ve always believed that who a reporter votes for, what religion they are, who they love, should not be something they have to discuss publicly,” Cooper states in his letter to Sullivan. But he also acknowledges that keeping his sexual orientation private had the potential to harm his reputation for honest and accurate journalism. “It’s become clear to me that by remaining silent on certain aspects of my personal life for so long, I have given some the mistaken impression that I am trying to hide something –something that makes me uncomfortable, ashamed or even afraid. This is distressing because it is simply not true.”
Taking Control of His Message
By choosing to share the news in a thoughtful and eloquent letter to Sullivan, a friend and himself an openly gay journalist, Cooper took control of his message and preempted any threat to his reputation that his previous secrecy had posed. By doing so he was also able to frame the announcement in a way that underscores his values and reputation, both personally and professionally. “I have always been very open and honest about this part of my life with my friends, my family, and my colleagues,” Cooper wrote, adding that he has always tried to keep his private affairs and identity out of his journalism. “I’ve never wanted to be any kind of reporter other than a good one, and I do not desire to promote any cause other than the truth.”
Cooper also minimized the story’s ability to expand by making the announcement while he was in Botswana, out of the reach of the media.
The way Anderson Cooper has handled this is a model of how to get in front of potentially controversial personal issues. On a broader level, Cooper has set an important example by treating sexual orientation as a subject that is not relevant to public or professional reputation.
Alongside issues of authenticity, the American Medical Association and the Better Business Bureau’s National Advertising Division add their concerns. Are new regulations on the way?
“Present your most helpful side to the people who need it and do so with as much genuine interest in other people’s success as you can possibly muster,” he advises. “Be clear and disclose [biases that influence your opinion].” That can apply to businesses, too.
In our online reputation management glossary, we define authenticity as “the quality of being genuine; a valued quality among bloggers and the larger online community.”
Trustworthiness is another definition of authenticity. That is something we all would welcome more of now, wouldn’t you say?
Fareed Zakaria rose quickly into the rarefied strata of the prominent public intellectual after he authored a Newsweek cover story (“Why They Hate Us”) on the 9/11 attacks. He’s an extraordinarily prolific writer, hosts a television program, and makes frequent public appearances.
