What Executives Need To Worry About

The VP that abruptly ended Lisa LaFlamme's CTV career, has been sent home on leave, which is what the big bosses always do to appease the public when there is this much backlash. We had a very similar story here in Israel last year when the beloved lotto presenter of 30 years found out through the media that she was being replaced by a few young women. Irit Anabi was also in her prime, and had to choke back the tears on live television in her last segment.

So first of all, this is the rule to avoid screw-ups of this magnitude that cause a brand irreparable damage in today's world: When it comes to super-sensitive issues like laying people off, no single individual should make those calls on their own. Especially when it has to do with one of the company's most high-profile employees. In general, any major decision made hastily by an individual who is all pumped up on their new authority, will be bad for the company. Significant changes of this nature need to be made by a diverse group of leaders whose egos balance each other out. This is how to guarantee making the right decisions that will add value to the company.

Significant changes of this nature need to be made by a diverse group of leaders whose egos balance each other out.

The Problem Starts Long Before The Actual Incident

We the public hear about these PR disasters when they explode in the media. But as I always say, these problems are bubbling beneath the hood, waiting to erupt at any moment. We need to start taking that as a given, and do something about the clashing egos long before it turns into a major PR crisis. As you can see very easily from these two examples, the clashes often have very little to do with skills or abilities, and are actually more about clashes between generations, clashes between genders. and clashes between cultures. The clashes are not about substance but rather superficial things - and our natural default is going ego against ego to change them. But that's no longer going to produce desired results. What will? Creating the right environment where everyone is completely aware of what's going on with their egos. Where we learn to consciously go above all that so we can be very successful, and not keep harming the brand in this irresponsible manner.

Learning about the Influence of the Environment

Why am I always talking about good vibes? Because we need to start understanding the environmental influences on us—each one of us, any kind of influence, meaning anything that we absorb. It could be natural phenomena, animals, a forest where we live, or the ocean. It could be a team or several teams that we mingle with throughout the day. Everything that we absorb from outside of us influences and changes us.

We are constantly being influenced by our environment. We are enveloped in an atmosphere and an environment that influences us, whether intentionally or otherwise, and each day is new. So if we're discussing the atmosphere or culture we're all part of every single day in the workplace, we have to precisely discern whether our influences are intentionally directed at us, at each and every person—that we shape them a certain way—or whether the influence is unintentional and seemingly random.

We then also need to examine the kinds of environmental and social influences we receive on a daily basis, and the nature of the groups we belong to. The examination and choice of our environmental and social influences is crucial to our well-being and optimal advancement, but we also have to know how society influences us, because otherwise we won't know where we currently are and where we'll end up.

We have to see our future and the future of humanity, or an entire society in a certain country, as the outcome of our impressions in life. If these impressions are intentionally directed at us, and they influence our thoughts, values and behaviors, then we have to take that into consideration. It is like parents who want their children to be free from influences of crime, drugs and other negative phenomena. As it is obvious with parents toward their children, so it is with adults too. Our social influences include what we absorb on social media and the media we consume. Everything influences us, so we have to reexamine the environment and the values that we find ourselves in, and check whether our influences are positive or negative, and what kind of environmental and social influences we need to cultivate, so at the very least - we won't cause the company damage. Ideally by putting a lot more thought into the things influencing our environment, we will create good conditions for everyone in the company to thrive together. Young and elderly, new and veteran, men and women - everyone will be treated with the respect and consideration they deserve. And when it's time to replace certain people, it can be done in a conscious manner without harming the individuals who helped make the brand successful.