Number 39 of 52 Lifelong Communication Lessons: Scandalous behaviour
September 28, 2015 |
| Nancy Kerrigan after being assaulted at practice Photo: ABC-TV/Reuters |
The year was 1994.
The Tonya Harding-Nancy Kerrigan attack becomes one of the biggest sports scandals, OJ Simpson is chased and charged with murder, and Kurt Cobain commits suicide. In Vancouver, the first Stanley Cup riot takes place.
I was on the verge of leaving my agency and about to start a public relations shop with two partners. There was one last pitch with our cross country partners for a huge contract. We won. I felt guilty being in the pitch, knowing I was about to depart, but felt trapped between a rock and a hard place. No one knew I was leaving and I had made a commitment to keep it secret while the agency reorganized. Mistake number one. I felt compromised but did not push back. And, when it was announced later, the partners probably thought I was okay with that kind of deception.
Within a month of my departure one of the cross country associates called to see if we would partner with them on another big government project. Of course, we seized the opportunity. We were starting up and this project would bring in good revenue and not be too difficult to execute... and we did not even have to pitch, they already had the business. We did not know the client. We barely knew the associate. Mistake number two.
It was a slog working with this associate. They were quite demanding about record keeping and super granular about the work we were doing. We just sucked it up because the money was good and the work was basic stuff we could do with our eyes closed. We always had a funny feeling about the relationship. They seemed deeply connected to the client and suppliers in ways that made us slightly uncomfortable. But, we put that down to the "way you do business" in that part of the world. Mistake number three.
There were so many elements to this story it would fill three blogs but to keep it brief, we ended up being connected to the infamous sponsorship scandal (Google it if you aren't familiar) via this contract. The RCMP did an investigation (thank goodness the partner made us keep such detailed records) and quickly realized we were one of the innocent bystanders and actually had been taken advantage of as well. We heard they had grossly overcharged our billings and used our reporting to justify the work. Jiminy crickets! We must have been good pawns in this whole escapade because we really were doing the work and had a reputation for being honest and transparent.
We were devastated to be deceived and mad at ourselves for not questioning things more. As the story unfolded it was like a bad reality show. People went to prison, had heart attacks, lost businesses, got fired, got divorced, tried to escape to island paradises, turned on each other, families broke up...it was messy.
We stood on the sidelines grateful we were so straight and above board but also unnerved we came so close to major white collar crime. Scary.
Communication Lessons:
1. If something seems out of line, it probably is. Don't stick your head in the sand. Ask until you are satisfied things are legit.
2. If something is too good to be true, it probably has underlying strings. Make sure you detail the expectations up front.
3. Don't get in bed with people you don't know! We really did not know these associates well or the client. Blind trust could have landed us in hot water.
Fast Forward to 2015:
Mr. Volkswagen, shame on you to deceive so intentionally. You will have to live with your decisions. No good can come of dishonesty.
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1 comments
Boy, do I remember that one. Thank goodness I had kept a detailed report with photos for the project I worked on when they came calling
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