6 lessons to learn from Chef Atul Kochhar's social media crisis!
Nehha Mishra
Leadership & Capability Coach | L&D Consultant | 18 yrs of work ex | If you are here for a goal oriented coach & a result driven trainer, my finger is on the pulse. Consult Me!
Sustaining your Personal Brand!
Quite frequently you will notice people in leadership positions especially public figures, losing their personal brand sustenance!
Atul Kochhar, an Indian National celebrity chef based in London, UK is no longer an exception! The recent incident of naming and shaming celebrity actress Priyanka Chopra on her apologetic tweet highlighting religious sentiment in one of the episodes of Quantico turned the story upside down for him!
Today, I would like to share 5 key lessons that every aspiring or current public figure must keep in mind to avoid unforeseen situations hampering personal brand positioning.
#1 Interdependence on communities
While many of us forget at the peak of our professional careers, overwhelming incidents like these remind us of our interdependence on communities! His much talked about tweet followed by two detailed apologies further complimented with a termination letter clearly re-instates the fact that with professional commitments comes a big responsibility of keeping harmony between personal and professional views especially as to religious sentiments of people!
#2 Be on top of factual information
Its perplexing to see how a fictional series bothers someone to an extent of naming & shaming another public figure in the name of communal detest. As it was also mentioned in the apology tweet that "I fully recognize my inaccuracies that Islam was founded 1400 years back" . Whenever you make a statement on social platform leave no room for factual error. You judgement or guess work can be severely scrutinized.
#3 Prefer to give your opinions on your area of expertise!
Being a public figure, your opinion certainly matters, however your genuine followers await to hear about your area of expertise. Prefer staying away from political, communal or religious remarks that could hurt the sentiments of virtually real social media fraternity!
#4 Learn the skills of tolerance, empathy, ownership, patience and respect!
Being a public figure, your views, actions or statements are being constantly watched. They represent your personal and partnered brands. Just like you relish the fruit of success, there wont be an escape from the repercussions of your mistakes if you dint hone and wear the skills of tolerance, sensitivity, ownership and respect for the inter and intra communities.
#5 No one is invincible!
Any organisation which consists of numerous stakeholders, has to go through series of practical evaluation, future interpretations and market sensitivity to save their brand positioning and credibility especially in an owner driven business model.
Quite Ironically, such incidents once again remind us that no one is invincible! Any individual can never be above a team, one must realize that the world is a place of co-existence, almost as a larger team. Bringing someone down could also reflect your own flaws, as rightly read "Look in the mirror, brother. You might just be talking about yourself."
#6 Hire a professional social media expert
Although this doesn't guarantee a smooth sail through, yet having an acclaimed and expertise consultant will help maintaining that perfect balance between Emotional and Practical side of your personality.
Leading the corporate communication function within hospitality industry for over 10 years has made me realize that it keeps testing the mettle of your emotional intelligence, agility, humility, tolerance and sensitivity for coexistence of any living being! I will always remain indebted to the industry for making me believe that one's performance and success is always a result of the team that let you be at your best!
Love Always!
All you need to know about Chef Atul Kochhar, read here:
https://www.khaleejtimes.com/news/general/all-you-need-to-know-about-chef-atul-kochhar--
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