So from a PR perspective the whole Anthony Weiner fiasco was handled terribly.
So he basically had to come out and say he lied about sending pictures of himself to various women via Twitter.
As any PR person knows, the worst thing you can do in a crisis is lie. And yet, people regularly lie despite the endless examples where lying was clearly the wrong thing to do.
So why did Anthony lie? Why do many high profile people lie in situations like this?
The general public often perceives them as simply being 'liars' (which is to say they lied because lying is no big deal to them) or they see them as being 'stupid'. In Weiner's case, people generally see his actions as those of stupidity versus lying being one of his fundemental character traits.
People also assume that the primary reason these people lie is to retain their positions of power and privilege. That they think they can skate under the radar with a convincing enough lie and continue on their merry way without having to pay the price for their actions. This is definitely a factor with typical folks in positions of power that lie, but I don't think it is when it comes to high-profile folks (they know people are going to dig and dig until the facts come out).
So what is the real reason they lie? What is the real reason they likely ignore all the advice from their PR people to come clean in an attempt to control the damage?
The answer is most likely embarasment. Not so much embarassment among their colleagues or in the general public, let's face it, folks in such high-profile positions generally have very thick skin. They are more than capable of taking a hit in the public eye and shrugging it off with a smile.
I suspect it's most likely concern over what those closest to them will think. Primarily their parents, siblings and their children (people who have a long-standing perception of who they are as a person). Yes, their wives as well, but I suspect this applies to a lesser extent with the spousal relationship simply because spouses tend not to have very cut and dry roles or perceptions of each other (in fact, they have multifaceted elements to the relationship, not the least of which is an intimate understand of each other's flaws).
It's really those fundemental roles that are at play here. For instance, the father role or the role of child... those roles for most people tend to remain fixed for life (and people work hard to maintain those roles). One can be 45 years old and the parent-child relationship still has many of the psychological elements present that existed 20 or 30 years ago.
In Weiner's case he was raised in a very religious household and likely has a certain image that he tries to maintain in his parents and siblings' eyes.
So when something like this happens, I think these people (often men) are so afraid of the shame and embarassment they will face with regards to those closest to them, that they ultimately decide that even though lying rarely works, it's worth a shot. They don't care if it ultimately costs them their career, their reputation with others, their marriages... they are willing to risk anything to avoid the humilitation they will have to face with those closest to them (as I say, often times their parents and their children, wherein their actions so violently contradict the role and image such people have of them).
So yes, Weiner was an idiot to lie about all this. Not to mention an idiot for using Twitter and for accidentally posting to Twitter instead of sending the Direct Message he meant to. So he definitely deserves a slap on the hand for being an idiot.
But I think people need to re-think why people in high-profile situations lie. I don't think its generally because they are liars, or sociopaths, or how we typical view people after they get caught lying. I think more often than not, they are simply so afraid of the embarassement they will face that they lie hoping (against all reason) that they can avoid such embarassement.
As PR folks, how do we combat this? How can you advise someone who will literarlly risk everything to avoid embarassment (primarily with their family?).
I think one has to first figure out why they are lying. If it is for the reasons I postulate above, then I think you have to get through to them and help them see the situation for what it is. That while THEY will feel shame, the reality is that the people who will stick by them and support them are probably the very same people they are lying to protect and to avoid embarssement with (ie. their family and close friends).
If you can get them to see this, then telling the truth becomes a much easier tactic to embrace and you begin to have a hope at controlling damage to the person's reputation.
It's also important to emphasize that the last thing you want to be branded is a liar.
So I feel a bit bad for Weiner. He blew it on the PR front and is now branded a liar. Even at his press conference, while he threw himself on the sword for all this, he failed to control the damage as much as he could have. I would have advised him to explain why he lied by saying that didn't want his family to know about the silly behavior he had engaged in (that's something people can understand in terms of why you'd lie). But he didn't address why he lied, he simply apologized for lying.
I doubt he has enough insight yet in to his behavior to consciously know why he lied (that's the thing with emotions, they drive people to do things without consciously understanding why).
Oh well, the damage is done at this point. From a PR perspective he'll never regain the reputation he once had. Even if he makes it through this and keeps his job, he'll always be remembered for lying to the media.
I feel bad for whoever does his PR. That's one heck of a tough situation to be in. It's too bad that they weren't able to get through to Weiner and get him to manage this crisis properly from the start. If they had been able to he probably would be suffering nothing more right now than Jon Stewart making jokes about his manhood.
And as he is probably finding out right about now, the people he was so afraid of finding out (his family and friends) are probably the people who are supporting him.
So he basically had to come out and say he lied about sending pictures of himself to various women via Twitter.
As any PR person knows, the worst thing you can do in a crisis is lie. And yet, people regularly lie despite the endless examples where lying was clearly the wrong thing to do.
So why did Anthony lie? Why do many high profile people lie in situations like this?
The general public often perceives them as simply being 'liars' (which is to say they lied because lying is no big deal to them) or they see them as being 'stupid'. In Weiner's case, people generally see his actions as those of stupidity versus lying being one of his fundemental character traits.
People also assume that the primary reason these people lie is to retain their positions of power and privilege. That they think they can skate under the radar with a convincing enough lie and continue on their merry way without having to pay the price for their actions. This is definitely a factor with typical folks in positions of power that lie, but I don't think it is when it comes to high-profile folks (they know people are going to dig and dig until the facts come out).
So what is the real reason they lie? What is the real reason they likely ignore all the advice from their PR people to come clean in an attempt to control the damage?
The answer is most likely embarasment. Not so much embarassment among their colleagues or in the general public, let's face it, folks in such high-profile positions generally have very thick skin. They are more than capable of taking a hit in the public eye and shrugging it off with a smile.
I suspect it's most likely concern over what those closest to them will think. Primarily their parents, siblings and their children (people who have a long-standing perception of who they are as a person). Yes, their wives as well, but I suspect this applies to a lesser extent with the spousal relationship simply because spouses tend not to have very cut and dry roles or perceptions of each other (in fact, they have multifaceted elements to the relationship, not the least of which is an intimate understand of each other's flaws).
It's really those fundemental roles that are at play here. For instance, the father role or the role of child... those roles for most people tend to remain fixed for life (and people work hard to maintain those roles). One can be 45 years old and the parent-child relationship still has many of the psychological elements present that existed 20 or 30 years ago.
In Weiner's case he was raised in a very religious household and likely has a certain image that he tries to maintain in his parents and siblings' eyes.
So when something like this happens, I think these people (often men) are so afraid of the shame and embarassment they will face with regards to those closest to them, that they ultimately decide that even though lying rarely works, it's worth a shot. They don't care if it ultimately costs them their career, their reputation with others, their marriages... they are willing to risk anything to avoid the humilitation they will have to face with those closest to them (as I say, often times their parents and their children, wherein their actions so violently contradict the role and image such people have of them).
So yes, Weiner was an idiot to lie about all this. Not to mention an idiot for using Twitter and for accidentally posting to Twitter instead of sending the Direct Message he meant to. So he definitely deserves a slap on the hand for being an idiot.
But I think people need to re-think why people in high-profile situations lie. I don't think its generally because they are liars, or sociopaths, or how we typical view people after they get caught lying. I think more often than not, they are simply so afraid of the embarassement they will face that they lie hoping (against all reason) that they can avoid such embarassement.
As PR folks, how do we combat this? How can you advise someone who will literarlly risk everything to avoid embarassment (primarily with their family?).
I think one has to first figure out why they are lying. If it is for the reasons I postulate above, then I think you have to get through to them and help them see the situation for what it is. That while THEY will feel shame, the reality is that the people who will stick by them and support them are probably the very same people they are lying to protect and to avoid embarssement with (ie. their family and close friends).
If you can get them to see this, then telling the truth becomes a much easier tactic to embrace and you begin to have a hope at controlling damage to the person's reputation.
It's also important to emphasize that the last thing you want to be branded is a liar.
So I feel a bit bad for Weiner. He blew it on the PR front and is now branded a liar. Even at his press conference, while he threw himself on the sword for all this, he failed to control the damage as much as he could have. I would have advised him to explain why he lied by saying that didn't want his family to know about the silly behavior he had engaged in (that's something people can understand in terms of why you'd lie). But he didn't address why he lied, he simply apologized for lying.
I doubt he has enough insight yet in to his behavior to consciously know why he lied (that's the thing with emotions, they drive people to do things without consciously understanding why).
Oh well, the damage is done at this point. From a PR perspective he'll never regain the reputation he once had. Even if he makes it through this and keeps his job, he'll always be remembered for lying to the media.
I feel bad for whoever does his PR. That's one heck of a tough situation to be in. It's too bad that they weren't able to get through to Weiner and get him to manage this crisis properly from the start. If they had been able to he probably would be suffering nothing more right now than Jon Stewart making jokes about his manhood.
And as he is probably finding out right about now, the people he was so afraid of finding out (his family and friends) are probably the people who are supporting him.
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