Twitter Layoff Messages

Perhaps the best example of a bad-news message is a layoff memo (below), and Elon Musk’s Twitter email doesn’t disappoint. Just days after the purchase went through and after a deafening silence, the new CEO sent a short message confirming what employees expected.

The email is classic Musk: direct and decisive, without a lot of compassion. He makes the news extra painful by expressing his distrust: cutting people off from offices and systems and reminding people not to share confidential information (which at least one person did by sharing the internal email).

Layoff messages are typically softer, with more specific reasons for the decision, a rationale for who goes and who stays, more gratitude to those leaving, more information about what people can expect, and more optimism about the future of the company. They are also a chance for leaders to demonstrate their own humility and vulnerability. But that’s not Elon Musk. (That describes Brian Chesky, whose Airbnb layoff message—posted publicly—is still one of my favorites.)

The actual layoffs the next day didn’t go much better. “Confusion” prevailed as 50% were laid off, some losing access in the middle of meetings. Now Musk is left with what he called a “massive drop in revenue” and class-action lawsuits from employees.

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Team,

In an effort to place Twitter on a healthy path, we will go through the difficult process of reducing our global workforce on Friday. We recognize that this will impact a number of individuals who have made valuable contributions to Twitter, but this action is unfortunately necessary to ensure the company's success moving forward.

Given the nature of our distributed workforce and our desire to inform impacted individuals as quickly as possible, communications for this process will take place via email. By 9AM PST on Friday Nov. 4th, everyone will receive an individual email with the subject line: Your Role at Twitter. Please check your email, including your spam folder.

If your employment is not impacted, you will receive a notification via your Twitter email. 

If your employment is impacted, you will receive a notification with next steps via your personal email.

If you do not receive an email from twitter-hr@ by 5PM PST on Friday Nov. 4th, please email xxxxxxxx.

To help ensure the safety of each employee as well as Twitter systems and customer data, our offices will be temporarily closed and all badge access will be suspended. If you are in an office or on your way to an office, please return home.

We acknowledge this is an incredibly challenging experience to go through, whether or not you are impacted. Thank you for continuing to adhere to Twitter policies that prohibit you from discussing confidential company information on social media, with the press or elsewhere.

We are grateful for your contributions to Twitter and for your patience as we move through this process.

Thank you.

Image source.

Prime Minister's Resignation Speech

After a mere 45 days in office, British Prime Minister Liz Truss resigned. She gave a short speech, giving context about the challenges she faced, the tax plan she enacted, and the agreement for her to resign.

What’s missing is the turmoil that ensued, including how her economic plan rocked the markets. We see little humility and vulnerability, except of course, in the decision to resign—but that hardly seems her choice. She was terribly unpopular, with only 10% approval, the lowest of any PM.

The day before her resignation, Truss faced jeers from House of Commons members. How anyone maintains their composure during such political theater is beyond me. Robin Williams joked, "The House of Commons is like Congress with a two-drink minimum."

I’m all for putting our students in challenging speaking situations, for example, interrupting them or changing the audience or conditions for a planned speech, but this kind of response would rattle anyone. What Truss lacks in humility she makes up for in courage—at least stamina.

CAM Communication Model

At the 2022 ABC Conference, I presented with colleagues about the CAM communication model. Useful for deciding whether, what, and how to communicate, the model walks students through three steps:

• Character Check: What drives me to communicate? To what am I reacting, and what is my purpose? What impact do I want to have? How do I want others to perceive me? How can I demonstrate good character?  

• Audience Analysis: How can I tailor my communication to my audience? What context should I consider? How does communication travel within the organization? What barriers might get in the way?

• Message and Medium: What is the content of my message, and how will I convey that message?

You’re welcome to download and use this handout, which provides generic questions and then a sample activity for students to apply the model when deciding whether to include something potentially controversial or perceived negatively during the job search.

Victoria's Secret Admits "Toxic Culture"

A song has challenged Victoria’s Secret in a way I haven’t seen since “United Breaks Guitars.” Already struggling because of changing customer preferences, a Hulu documentary, and leadership ties to Jeffrey Epstein, the brand responded to try to repair its reputation.

Jax wrote the song for the girl she babysits, and now it’s 50 on Billboard’s Hot 100 songs. Viewed more than 30 million times, “Victoria’s Secret” speaks to young people about unrealistic body images. Jax demonstrates vulnerability by talking about her own struggles, including how she “stopped eating.” She wrote lyrics the company couldn’t ignore: “I know Victoria's secret / And girl, you wouldn't believe / She's an old man who lives in Ohio / Making money off of girls like me.”

The company responded with two statements. The first, an Instagram post, is a clever handwritten note from the CEO, complimenting the song and promising to do better. The second, below, is a spokesperson’s statement, which illustrates a classic crisis communication strategy: distancing yourself from the issue. Referring to the past, the writer remind us how far Victoria’s Secret has come. In my view, the company demonstrates some accountability but could offer more compassion.

For her part, Jax demonstrates integrity in her video response. She focuses on her intent, which wasn’t to “take down a brand,” and she invites others to share their stories.

We’ll see how Victoria’s Secret fares in the end. Some believe the brand hasn’t changed enough or took too long to be more inclusive of different body types. Regardless, the situation and response are good crisis communication and character examples.

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At Victoria's Secret, we make no excuses for the past. We know the old VS lost touch with many people, projected a damaging standard of beauty, and perpetuated a toxic culture.

Today, we are proud to be a different company, with a new leadership team and mission to welcome, celebrate, and champion all women. We have made much progress, but recognize this transformation is a journey, and our work continues to become the Victoria’s Secret our customers and associates deserve — where everyone feels seen, respected, and valued.

We’re always open to engage with those looking to share feedback as we continue our transformation.

Uber's Response to Hack

What sounds like a major security breach is getting minimal response from Uber so far. A hacker, possibly 18 years old, apparently posed as a colleague to get IT access through an employee. An embarrassment to the company, the breach could include “full access to the cloud-based systems where Uber stores sensitive customer and financial data.” But Uber communications are trying to minimize the impact.

Three days after the breach, the only message I can find is a “Security Update,” copied below, on Uber’s Newsroom page. Company leaders are likely scrambling to lock down and protect information, but more communication is important. Criticism is harsh because of how easily the hacker appears to have duped an employee through social engineering and because of the unfortunate timing: Uber’s former chief security officer is currently on trial for paying hackers $100,000 to avoid disclosing a breach back in 2016.

The communication and situation are challenging, but people are watching and waiting, as we see in these tweets. This situation raises issues of several character dimensions, for example, accountability, humility, integrity, and courage. With more transparency, the company might be less vulnerable now, not more, as the leaders might fear.

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September 16, 10:30am PT

While our investigation and response efforts are ongoing, here is a further update on yesterday’s incident:

• We have no evidence that the incident involved access to sensitive user data (like trip history).

• All of our services including Uber, Uber Eats, Uber Freight, and the Uber Driver app are operational.

• As we shared yesterday, we have notified law enforcement.

• Internal software tools that we took down as a precaution yesterday are coming back online this morning.

September 15, 6:25pm PT

We are currently responding to a cybersecurity incident. We are in touch with law enforcement and will post additional updates here as they become available.

Tip Menus Increase Tips

A Stanford Business researcher found that tip menus in NYC taxi cabs increase the amount people tipped unless the suggestions are too high. Percentages offer options without having to calculate the dollar amount, which seemed to appeal to riders.

In his working paper, Kwabena Baah Donkor theorizes that “the cost of deviating from the norm tip and opting out of the default tip menu are both high relative to the taxi fare.” Typically, people choose conforming and will take the easier path. Both are reasons to select a given tip percentage, assumed to be what others do in a similar situation.

Of course, this research is useful for other tipped workers. Students might consider other applications: in what other contexts could a menu of options simplify decision making and ultimately increase revenue or further business goals?

Google Employee Petition

Google employees are petitioning for the company to stop collecting abortion-related data. The concern comes after Roe v. Wade was overturned, which could put women who search for abortion services in jeopardy.

Launched in January 2021, Alphabet Workers' Union is driving the petition, now signed by more than 650 employees. The group is asking Google to refrain from turning data about searches and illegal abortions over to authorities, as Facebook did; to omit “misleading ‘pregnancy crisis centers’” in search results, including maps, which often lead to anti-abortion centers; to stop donations and lobbying entirely; and more.

As tech employee activism becomes more prevalent, employees feel more empowered to demonstrate courage. I don’t see the entire petition, but I wonder whether employees are asking for too much, particularly an end to all lobbying and political donations. A more focused, realistic request of actions that show the company’s leadership among tech companies could be more effective.

Although the petition was sent to CEO Sundar Pichai and other executives on Monday, the group hadn’t received a response by Thursday. Company leaders are called on to demonstrate integrity—transparency in communication and consistency with company principles. This is also an opportunity to lead with humility and to show a willingness to be vulnerable because this is a highly sensitive issue with no clear answers. Although a difficult situation to address, leaders must respond, particularly before the story becomes about the lack of response.

Robinhood Layoff Message

Robinhood attracted retail investors during the pandemic but is facing losses as users leave the platform. In Business Communication and Character, I criticized Robinhood’s aggressive marketing tactics to lure inexperienced investors. Now, the company is doing its second round of layoffs: 9% of staff in April and another 23% in August. Lucky for us, the message to staff is posted on the Robinhood blog—a smart move because notes like are typically leaked, anyway.

Overall, CEO Vlad Tenev’s message meets criteria for bad-news communications. The main point is upfront, as I suggest for layoff messages because employees should know the news already. According to this message, they do: Tenev refers to All-Hands meetings before and after the written message. We get the sense that internal communication has been ongoing and that decisions have been transparent.

The message tells employees what’s next and that they will hear the news quickly: “Everyone will receive an email and a Slack message with your status—with resources and support if you are leaving. We’re sending everyone a message immediately after this meeting so you don’t have to wait for clarity.” The better approach would be individual, in-person (or Zoom) meetings, but this isn’t always practical.

Tenev described part of the reasons for the reductions but omitted a recent $30 million fine and increased regulatory pressure. Yet he demonstrated accountability and humility by admitting bad decisions. He wrote, “As CEO, I approved and took responsibility for our ambitious staffing trajectory—this is on me.” In addition, on a press call, Tenev admitted, “The reality is that we over-hired, in particular in some of our support functions.”

Tenev also demonstrated compassion. He sounds human, saying goodbye to people who will leave and encouraging people who will stay, without being too positive, which could be off-putting.

In sum, this isn’t the best layoff message example we have, but it’s certainly not the worst. I would share this with students as a positive example.

Honest Email Auto-Responses

The New York Times published a series of automated email responses that let senders know why the receiver will take a while to reply or will not replay at all. Each explains a mental-health reason, for example, vacationing or recovering from a miscarriage. Some are funny, like this one:

Thanks for your email—but unfortunately, I’m rocking in a corner somewhere trying to find my inner peace. As soon as I’ve found it, I’ll be back at work, so please bear with me.

Alain Sobol, Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt

Generally, I like the idea. The responses are honest and demonstrate integrity, vulnerability, and authenticity. A few of the examples might be “TMI” (too much information), but that’s for each receiver to decide.

Students can draft their own responses, but I’ll add a word of caution: these shouldn’t be overused. How much senders will tolerate depends on the situation and relationship. If an email is important, the sender needs alternatives, which I don’t see in the NYT examples. A time estimate or someone else to contact would be appreciated.

Image source.

Blame Game for United Airlines

United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby apologized for blaming regulators for contributing to the airline’s flight delays. In a memo to employees, COO Jonathan Roitman, who has been removed from his role, indicated that FAA actions caused half of the delays:

“We estimate that over 50% of our delay minutes and 75% of our cancels in the past four months were because of FAA traffic management initiatives—those have been particularly acute in Newark and Florida. These ATC challenges can not only disrupt the schedule, but they also cause us to burn crew time throughout the month.”

The FAA responded by blaming the airline for mismanaging operations during weather conditions. After that, on an earnings call, Kirby said, “I apologized to [Transportation Secretary Pete] Buttigieg because that is not what we intended.”

All this comes after Buttigieg criticized the airlines for cancelling flights and not offering refunds. This is a complicated issue, likely caused by several factors, including staffing issues on both sides. Although Kirby didn’t take full responsibility, he demonstrated some humility and vulnerability in admitting that attacking regulators is not a useful argument, particularly when an internal memo goes public, which is always to be expected.

TikTok Announces Security Officer Change

Following pressure from U.S. lawmakers to increase security, TikTok announced a new Global Chief Security Officer, although the company denies a connection between data concerns and the decision. The company statement is unusual in that it’s written by the outgoing officer, Roland Cloutier. It’s not until the penultimate paragraph of the statement, in a section labeled, “A Message from TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew and ByteDance VP of Technology Dingkun Hong,” that Kim Albarella is announced as the interim head.

Cloutier will stay on in a “strategic advisory role,” and Albarella’s position is interim, but still, similar leader change announcements tend to have the main voice as the CEO or board chair with quotes from outgoing leaders. This approach could reflect TikTok’s organizational structure—being owned by ByteDance, a Chinese multinational company, which is causing particular alarm about data security.

The announcement is a public post from an internal message to employees, in which case, having Cloutier author the statement may make sense. Still, we read very little about Albarella, and I wonder why that is. Overall, the message focuses much more on past accomplishments than future plans, and Cloutier writes nothing about her at all.

Image source.

Meta Bad-News Email to Staff

Facebook Chief Product Officer Chris Cox is direct in telling employees that “serious times” are ahead. The press reports contents of a “memo,” which appears to be a formal email or perhaps post on an intranet.

Organized by six “investment priorities,” the memo starts neutrally: “Every six months, we take stock of our product portfolio and investment plans across the company to assess how we are doing and chart the way forward.” But the tone and recommendations clearly represent tough decisions ahead that affect staff.

With no specific plans for layoffs, warnings come at the end of the memo:

I have to underscore that we are in serious times here and the headwinds are fierce. We need to execute flawlessly in an environment of slower growth, where teams should not expect vast influxes of new engineers and budgets. We must prioritize more ruthlessly, be thoughtful about measuring and understanding what drives impact, invest in developer efficiency and velocity inside the company, and operate leaner, meaner, better exciting teams.

Business communication students will notice lots of jargon, for example, “These are the areas where we see the biggest opportunities for angle-changes in the value we can deliver for people, or businesses, or for our own business, by investing disproportionately relative to our current baseline.” Out with the old; in with the new?

The memo echos a recent meeting CEO Mark Zuckerberg held with staff. Demonstrating vulnerability, he said that Meta is facing the “worst downturns that we’ve seen in recent history” and that hiring will slow. He also gave staff permission to leave:

I think some of you might decide that this place isn’t for you, and that self-selection is OK with me, [and]“Realistically, there are probably a bunch of people at the company who shouldn’t be here.

These warnings are helpful to manage employees’ expectations and to get them on board for the type of belt-tightening company leaders want. Meta might lose people, but this is an attrition strategy that could work in the company’s favor—opening up positions for new people with skills Meta needs going forward.

Companies Navigate Comms After Roe v. Wade

After the U.S. Supreme Court decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, women’s constitutional right to have an abortion, companies are faced with thorny decisions about whether and how to communicate. Leaders have become more vocal on social issues, for example, gay marriage and Black Lives Matter, but this situation may be more complicated.

Several companies have expanded their health care coverage to include travel for medical procedures, but they avoid the word “abortion.” For example, Disney sent an email to staff:

“We have processes in place so that an employee who may be unable to access care in one location has affordable coverage for receiving similar levels of care in another location,” including, “family planning (including pregnancy-related decisions).”

Other companies were more direct. Back in April, after the Texas ruling that limited abortions, Yelp’s chief diversity officer said, “We want to be able to recruit and retain employees wherever they might be living,” She raised the issue of equity—access for employees who may not have the funds to travel. She also said, “The ability to control your reproductive health, and whether or when you want to extend your family, is absolutely fundamental to being able to be successful in the workplace,”

Starbucks, facing unionization efforts and staffing issues, sent three letters to partners during the past few months and posted them publicly. Each uses the word “abortion” and acknowledges different views on the subject and that some may feel “disheartened or in shock.”

How companies approach these communications reflects their business, employee base, location, and culture. We might expect Starbucks, whose founder and current interim CEO Howard Schultz has consistently been vocal on controversial issues. Starbucks leaders demonstrated courage, vulnerability, compassion, and integrity—standing up for what they believe is right, despite strong feelings on the other side.

Business Communication and Character Lessons from Jan. 6 Hearings

Not every faculty member will want to talk about the United States House Select Committee hearings about the January 6, 2021, attack on the capitol. At the time, some public school teachers were instructed not to “wade into” the events. But for faculty who are willing to take a degree of risk, the hearings serve as excellent illustrations of business communication principles and leadership character dimensions. Following are a few examples.

BUSINESS COMMUNICATION

Media Choice: The committee chooses different media for different purposes. Students can evaluate why they might have chosen text, interviews, scripts, live or recorded witness testimony, video, etc. and how effective each is for the purpose.

Delivery Style: Committee representatives and witnesses demonstrate a variety of delivery styles. Some are more natural/conversational or scripted than others. What is the impact of William Barr’s use of a profanity (“b—s—”)?

Claims and Evidence: The committee uses a variety of evidence to prove their claims about former President Trump’s role in trying to overturn the election. For example, the fourth hearing describes voting data in Georgia and Arizona. Students could evaluate, for any of the seven claims, which evidence was strongest and weakest. We also see examples of balancing emotional appeal (for example, Ruby Freeman’s and Shaye Moss’s testimony in the fourth hearing), logical arguments (for example, the testimony in the second hearing about laws and constitutional restrictions on former Vice President Pence’s ability to refuse to certify votes), and credibility (for example, the committee shows a link for viewers to see witness bios online). See a summary of evidence here.

Organization: The committee is trying to prove that former President Trump had a seven-part plan (listed below) to overturn the election. The points are written using message titles (or talking headings) and serve as the committee’s claims. At the beginning of each hearing, committee leaders preview the claim and evidence.

Q&A: Although some of the questions are clearly scripted, students can analyze types of questions asked and how witnesses respond. They may find notable differences between recorded and live testimony.

Email Privacy: Once again, we learn the lesson that emails, text messages, and voicemails may be made public during legal investigations; any communication is discoverable.

CHARACTER

Vulnerability: Several witnesses demonstrate vulnerability; they risk emotional exposure in addition to the targeting and harassment they already experienced.

Humility: We see former President Trump’s lack of humility in his unwillingness to accept failure or defeat.

Compassion: Committee members are compassionate when interacting with witnesses, although we see minimal emotion.

Integrity: The committee contrasts integrity of witnesses with that of former President Trump.

Courage: By participating on the committee, Republican members risk backlash from colleagues and constituents; witnesses demonstrate courage by contradicting former President Trump’s claims and, in some cases, his demands.

Accountability: Witnesses stand by their decisions, for example, in refusing to overturn election results.

Authenticity: Some witnesses and committee members come across as more “genuine” than others.

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Here are the committee’s main claims:

Trump attempted to convince Americans that significant levels of fraud had stolen the election from him despite knowing that he had, in fact, lost the 2020 election:

1. Trump had knowledge that he lost the 2020 election, but spread misinformation to the American public and made false statements claiming significant voter fraud led to his defeat;

2. Trump planned to remove and replace the Attorney General and Justice Department officials in an effort to force the DOJ to support false allegations of election fraud;

3. Trump pressured Vice President Pence to refuse certified electoral votes in the official count on January 6th, in violation of the U.S. Constitution;

4. Trump pressured state lawmakers and election officials to alter election results in his favor;

5. Trump’s legal team and associates directed Republicans in seven states to produce and send fake "alternate" electoral slates to Congress and the National Archives;

6. Trump summoned and assembled a destructive mob in Washington and sent them to march on the U.S. Capitol; and

7. Trump ignored multiple requests to speak out in real-time against the mob violence, refused to instruct his supporters to disband and failed to take any immediate actions to halt attacks on the Capitol.

"Rainbow Washing" and Burger King Ad

Almost every company seems to have some recognition of Pride Month, a celebration of the LGBTQ+ community during the anniversary of the 1969 Stonewall Uprising in Manhattan. But skeptics complain that June has become a time for “rainbow washing,” which Urban Dictionary defines as “The act of using or adding rainbow colors and/or imagery to advertising, apparel, accessories, landmarks, et cetera, in order to indicate progressive support for LGBTQ equality (and earn consumer credibility)—but with a minimum of effort or pragmatic result. (Akin to ‘green-washing’ with environmental issues and ‘pink-washing’ with breast cancer.)”

Burger King has done worse. To promote a Whopper in Austria, the company’s ad agency suggested selling "two equal buns"—either two tops or two bottoms. Some found the sexual reference funny, but others were offended, particularly because Burger King used the joke only for financial gain. Unlike other brands, the company didn’t include, for example, a donation to an LGBTQ+ organization.

The agency sent an apology to AdAge: “We at Jung von Matt Donau are proud of our queer community within our agency. Unfortunately, we still messed up and didn’t check well enough with community members on different interpretations of the ‘Pride Whopper.’ That’s on us.” The group also said, “we’ve learned our lessons and will include experts on communicating with the LGBTQ community for future work as promoting equal love and equal rights will still be a priority for us.”

The company takes responsibility, but a good apology includes a bit more, for example, an understanding of the impact and reparations or compensation. AdAge didn’t publish the apology in full, but business communication students could rewrite the response to demonstrate more vulnerability, humility, and compassion. In addition, Burger King has remained quiet while the ad agency took all the blame.

A Different Approach to Customer Replies

Squarespace is trying to reduce the volume of customer requests to handle, and I like the approach. I received this email three days after I submitted a ticket on the website.

From: Squarespace Customer Care <customercare@squarespace.com>
Sent: Tuesday, June 7, 2022 9:06 AM
To: Amy Newman <amynewman@cornell.edu>
Subject: [Support] Re: Automatic weekly?

##- Please type your reply above this line -##

Hello, this is Squarespace Customer Support. We're writing to confirm that we received your email a few days ago and are still working to respond as soon as possible.

We're currently experiencing a high volume of requests, so it's taking us longer than usual to respond. We apologize for any inconvenience this causes.

If you've resolved your issue since contacting us, please reply with the word "solved" to let us know and we'll close the case on your behalf. You can reopen a closed case at any time by replying to the thread.

If you want to speak to someone directly about your issue, contact us via live chat. Live chat is available Monday - Friday from 4:00 AM to 8:00 PM ET. To start a chat, visit this link, choose a topic, then select Live Chat:

https://support.squarespace.com/hc/en-us/requests/new#choose-topic

I wonder what percentage of customers resolve their own issue before the company can respond. Either way, this message gives customers some control over their fate and may reduce frustration. It worked for me, partly because the declining customer experience is well known and not unique to Squarespace.

It might not work for customers with a serious issue, but they can follow options in the last paragraph. In this sense, the message is a bad-news reply and, like most, it’s also persuasive. Students can analyze how well the writing style and organization work for the audience and purpose.

Another Elon Musk Email: Layoffs

Elon Musk has a unique way of announcing bad news. In an email to employees, which he sent to the New York Times and other news organizations, Musk is brief and direct.

To: Everybody
Subject: Headcount Reduction
Date: Friday, June 3, 2022

Tesla will be reducing salaried headcount by 10% as we have become overstaffed in many areas. Note this does not apply to anyone actually building cars, battery packs or installing solar. Hourly headcount will increase.

Elon

Business communication students can compare this message to principles in Chapter 8 for delivering bad news, particularly about jobs. Musk’s email doesn’t quite measure up. A better example is from Brian Chesky, Airbnb. Chesky tailors the message to his audience, letting them know why the decision was made, how it affects them, and what they can expect. He demonstrates vulnerability and compassion to those leaving—and to those staying.

PPT About Lost Luggage

An @AerLingus passenger had been tracking his luggage with Apple’s Airtags but had no luck getting it back from the airline to his home in Dublin. He decided to tweet a PowerPoint presentation to show exactly what happened and where one of his three bags was left—at an address in London. He described the experience, including poor communication from the airline.

The news went viral and was picked up by CNN, but still, the airline didn’t respond. So far, he reports, “I still haven’t had a response or apology from the airline. Am I surprised? No. Am I disappointed? Yes.”

This story reminds me of a PPT way back in 2007, “Yours is a very bad hotel,” when PPT was in its infancy.

@aviosAdventurer did a nice job with the map graphics and location icons. I wish he had included some of the messages to and from the airline. Selfishly, I would like to analyze them against business communication principles, but I also believe they might have strengthened his case against the airline.

Amazon Insults an Employee

Amazon’s Staten Island, NY, warehouse is the company’s first to unionize. The vote is momentous and could start a wave of activity in other Amazon facilities.

Similar to their response at other facilities, for example, Bessemer, Alabama, company leaders used aggressive tactics to fight the union. In this case, the employee leading the effort, Christian Smalls demonstrated all the markings of a courageous leader. But a leaked email from the general counsel shows the company’s response to him personally:

“He’s not smart, or articulate, and to the extent the press wants to focus on us versus him, we will be in a much stronger PR position than simply explaining for the umpteenth time how we’re trying to protect workers.”

“Not smart” is insulting and obviously inaccurate. “Articulate” is also highly inaccurate—and stings with racism. Amazon underestimated its employees, but the battle is not over.

Amazon is trying to get the decision overturned. Company leaders might demonstrate vulnerability and humility at this point instead.

image source.

Will Smith's Apology

The 2022 Academy Awards ceremony was eventful, with Chris Rock referencing Jada Smith’s appearance and her husband, Will Smith, hitting Rock on stage. Jada Smith has spoken openly about having alopecia, a hair loss condition. Rock’s joke clearly hit a nerve with her husband.

From the audience, Smith cursed at Rock, who continued with his presentation. Later, Smith gave a tearful acceptance speech for Best Actor in a Leading Role, comparing himself to the character he played, Serena and Venus Williams’ father: they both protected their family. He apologized to his fellow nominees and the Academy but not to Rock. The next day, he posted a fuller apology on Instagram, mentioning Rock first.

The Academy tweeted a pat response, “The Academy does not condone violence of any form. Tonight we are delighted to celebrate our 94th Academy Awards winners, who deserve this moment of recognition from their peers and movie lovers around the world.” I don’t see any response from Rock yet.

The rest of the ceremony was awkward, and host Amy Schumer made a joke, “Did I miss something? There's like, a different vibe in here....” Her idea was probably to call out what was obvious.

Everyone seems to have an opinion on the situation. Was Rock’s joke about “G.I. Jane 2” over the top? Was Smith’s response appropriate? Should he have been prevented from speaking after that point? Should the Academy do more?

The situation is complex and calls us to explore issues of character, for example, compassion, courage, authenticity, accountability, and vulnerability.