In managing through the crisis, Letterman has been effective and endearing in getting his message out he’s done three important things right:
- He got out in front of the problem
- He took ownership of the problem
- He told everyone how he planned on fixing the problem
Out in front: Dave didn’t wait for the media to break the story. Instead, he went on the offensive, crafting the story himself that he wanted the world to hear. In a nationally televised mea culpa that lasted ten minutes in length—an eternity in network air time—Dave admitted to the affairs and apologized to everyone involved. He used his comedic timing to soften the blow, but his message was sincere and contrite and he took full responsibility for his actions.
Letterman continued to stay out in front of the drama as events unfolded over the following weekend. After initially declaring he wouldn’t speak about the matter again, Dave reappeared the following Monday joking that he’d rather be hiking the Appalachian Trail and that even his GPS system was no longer talking to him. He then acknowledged that while he had hoped to avoid the topic, “that’s all people want to seem to talk about.” Thus followed a second appeal apologizing to female staffers for their harassment by the media and to his wife for her “horribly hurt” feelings.
Ownership: It took a lot of courage for Letterman to tell the American public that he was being blackmailed for doing terrible things and then to admit that he had in fact done those terrible things. But the self-deprecating Letterman didn’t make excuses or blame others. He just took it on the chin in front of the world to see. His forthright approach seems to be helping him on the corporate sponsorship front. So far, there’s been no fallout in advertising for CBS. A New York Times article entitled, Letterman’s Sponsors Appear to be Unperturbed noted that Madison Avenue hasn’t abandoned Dave. As an advertising executive noted, “The fact he addressed it head-on, in a very open and honest way, is probably going to position him in the best way he could be positioned in a situation like this.”
Communicating the plan: During Dave’s second on-air apology, he said, “If you hurt a person and it’s your responsibility, you try to fix it. Let me tell you, folks, I got my work cut out for me.”
In business, as in life, it’s not that you won’t make mistakes, everyone will and does. What’s important is how you manage those mistakes. As a manager, you need to stay out in front of issues and not get caught behind them. There isn’t a junior banker out there who hasn’t made an error in his merger math. As the Vice President sitting in front of the client, you’ve got to make the split-second decision—do you acknowledge the mistake and explain it away or hope the client doesn’t notice? Any VP worth her salt will let the client know up front that there’s a number that’s wrong—and then commit to getting the correct analysis over ASAP.
Once you flag those problems, you need to take ownership for them and propose solutions immediately. An in-house accountant at a privately-held real-estate firm overpaid bonuses by $5 million one year. Three executives were forced to return the money. The accountant was sick over it and offered to resign. The executives didn’t accept his resignation. His taking full responsibility for the screw-up may have in fact saved his job; one can only imagine what would have happened had he tried to cover up a seven-figure discrepancy or place the blame on others.
Letterman is going to have to endure a lot of public scrutiny and disapproval in the coming weeks and months. The blogosphere is abuzz with rumors of divorce. But Letterman stayed above board throughout his ordeal. He addressed the issue head on, took ownership for his dalliances and committed to everyone involved that he would do his best to make it all right again. The jury is out on whether he can fix the mess he’s made but one thing is certain—we should all be so good at managing our message and navigating our way through a crisis.