Reputation Excellence: Creating, preserving and advancing coporate reputations http://www.morrisseyco.com/blog/ Mattel announced that it will release a new "Mad Men" doll collection, which celebrates another back to the future theme. Adults, particularly baby boomers, certainly can't get enough of the television series, which follows the goings-on of the advertising world of the early '60s. The characters are so authentic to the period, we could all blink and be transported back in time. The series' most re... Wed, 10 Mar 2010 13:19:48 CST http://blog.morrisseyco.com/index.asp?blogid=264 http://blog.morrisseyco.com/index.asp?blogid=264 The Scott Brown political train, was a pickup truck. I have been watching with wonder and interest the triumph of the underdog Scott Brown, who swept away the expert political naysayers in his victory to win the U.S. Senate seat held by Ted Kennedy for so many years. Brown is a straight shooter, and the insiders of Beltway politics still cannot believe this virtually unknown guy in a pickup truck ... Tue, 02 Feb 2010 15:20:22 CST http://blog.morrisseyco.com/index.asp?blogid=263 http://blog.morrisseyco.com/index.asp?blogid=263 Over the past few weeks, I couldn't help but be struck with the contradictions all around us in our global society. In particular, the tragedy of one of the world's poorest countries, Haiti, as it is being plagued by a natural catastrophe of untold proportions. While on the other side of the globe in modern day Dubai, the world's tallest building at 2,717 feet, the Burj Khalifa, was being dedicate... Tue, 26 Jan 2010 09:53:53 CST http://blog.morrisseyco.com/index.asp?blogid=262 http://blog.morrisseyco.com/index.asp?blogid=262 Well, what would Santa do post-Copenhagen? For starters, if he does not want to go against the global trends, he would continue to drive his car instead of his sleigh. The rest of the world plans on buying more vehicles in 2010 - particularly in China and India. Bicycles are being turned in for polluting scooters and the newly prosperous won't be denied a car, so Santa has to fit in and not be a k... Wed, 23 Dec 2009 12:14:34 CST http://blog.morrisseyco.com/index.asp?blogid=261 http://blog.morrisseyco.com/index.asp?blogid=261 Leadership requires decisive action in certain circumstances. For example, when trying to save a person's life, a take-charge person moves with dispatch and authority. The hero automatically moves into action. There is no time for hesitation or equivocation. The challenge is thrust before him and he acts. Those of you who follow Reputation Excellence understand that a basic tenet of reputation is ... Mon, 21 Dec 2009 13:23:35 CST http://blog.morrisseyco.com/index.asp?blogid=260 http://blog.morrisseyco.com/index.asp?blogid=260 Two of the world's most prominent multi-cultural public figures are experiencing opposite reputation fortunes today: President Obama and Tiger Woods. Barack Obama's buzz is all positive as he is awarded the Nobel Peace Prize by the Nobel Committee in Sweden. Meanwhile, another Swedish melodrama is unfolding back in the USA, as Tiger Woods, the world's most visible athlete, engages in messy marital... Thu, 10 Dec 2009 15:33:45 CST http://blog.morrisseyco.com/index.asp?blogid=259 http://blog.morrisseyco.com/index.asp?blogid=259 President Obama's recent trip to the Far East reminds us of just how far our nation has come as a truly global country. America is multi-cultural and multi-racial. It is the melting pot and the polyglot. We welcome visitors from far and wide, and as Americans travel the world, labeled as ugly Americans or Hollywood stars, we are rapidly becoming global ambassadors -- more tolerant and less xenopho... Thu, 19 Nov 2009 14:07:58 CST http://blog.morrisseyco.com/index.asp?blogid=258 http://blog.morrisseyco.com/index.asp?blogid=258 Common wisdom is that you learn from your mistakes. Behavioral research shows you actually learn more from your successes. Sometimes trial and error and experience are better teachers than books or the Internet. So why as a human race do we appear hell-bent on killing one another? I don't ask this as a dove or a hawk, but as a pragmatist. The act of war has few beneficiaries and many casualties. C... Thu, 12 Nov 2009 13:49:19 CST http://blog.morrisseyco.com/index.asp?blogid=257 http://blog.morrisseyco.com/index.asp?blogid=257 Women are disappearing from the executive suite in companies all over the United States, but there is a pronounced shortfall in Massachusetts, as reported in the latest study by the Boston Club, an organization of women executives based in Boston. The Boston Globe reported that 60 women have top-level positions in the 100 largest public companies in Massachusetts, a decline of about 27 percent fro... Mon, 02 Nov 2009 10:30:22 CST http://blog.morrisseyco.com/index.asp?blogid=256 http://blog.morrisseyco.com/index.asp?blogid=256 John Kerry earned the right in the Vietnam War through his heroic acts to be called an American patriot. He has been an effective senator, but probably always operated in the shadow of Massachusetts's leading political and national figure, Ted Kennedy. Kerry now may be poised to emerge from the shadows. Where Kennedy has been described as "The Lion of the Senate," Kerry has a reputation more as ... Thu, 22 Oct 2009 13:31:08 CST http://blog.morrisseyco.com/index.asp?blogid=255 http://blog.morrisseyco.com/index.asp?blogid=255 Trying to keep track of the ups and downs of the media is like watching the Florida and Arizona real estate markets of recent years. Of late, it goes hot and cold like Red Sox hot dogs on Lansdowne Street (dead cold as of October 11th). Most recently, the owner of The Boston Globe, the New York Times Corporation, has been engaged in a much publicized sale of its venerable and reputable newspaper. ... Fri, 16 Oct 2009 15:51:23 CST http://blog.morrisseyco.com/index.asp?blogid=252 http://blog.morrisseyco.com/index.asp?blogid=252 If you are like many Americans who still watch late night TV, you have been both surprised and titillated by the David Letterman scandal (or should I call it the After Hours Sexcapades?). And I thought David was too smart for all this. My hero is about to commit reputational hari-kari or celebrity sepuku. No, this is not a late night order of sushi, but ritualistic, self-imposed suicide, for those... Wed, 07 Oct 2009 11:33:18 CST http://blog.morrisseyco.com/index.asp?blogid=251 http://blog.morrisseyco.com/index.asp?blogid=251 Yesterday morning I attended the Life Science Forum hosted by the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce. The purpose of the breakfast is to acquaint the business community with the important work being done in biotechnology and medical research in the Greater Boston area. Boston's advantage and reputation has been achieved through actions and leadership and not just words or marketing slogans and cam... Tue, 06 Oct 2009 14:18:49 CST http://blog.morrisseyco.com/index.asp?blogid=250 http://blog.morrisseyco.com/index.asp?blogid=250 President Obama has demonstrated he is not a shy and retiring CEO. He weighs in on the difficult issues and controversial topics -- bringing the country back from the brink of financial ruin, championing health care reform and deciding whether to venture even deeper into Afghanistan with more troops - all while trying to unwind from the entanglements in Iraq of the Bush legacy. Any one of these de... Tue, 15 Sep 2009 14:13:11 CST http://blog.morrisseyco.com/index.asp?blogid=249 http://blog.morrisseyco.com/index.asp?blogid=249 Caster Semenya, the 18-year-old world champion gold medalist in the 800-meter race, has been causing much uproar not because of her triumphant victory, but because of speculation surrounding her gender. Semenya was accused of being a male because of her dramatic athletic improvement, muscular build and deep voice. It is not uncommon for female athletes involved in sports that "threaten" the tradi... Mon, 14 Sep 2009 10:36:45 CST http://blog.morrisseyco.com/index.asp?blogid=248 http://blog.morrisseyco.com/index.asp?blogid=248 The saying "in the land of the blind, the one eyed man is king" comes to mind as modern day gurus of social media try to guide corporate communicators through the perils and prizes of the virtual and viral world. Both corporate and agency public relations professionals have been most comfortable managing the uncertainties of the traditional media. Their jobs were pretty straightforward. They atte... Tue, 01 Sep 2009 15:47:47 CST http://blog.morrisseyco.com/index.asp?blogid=247 http://blog.morrisseyco.com/index.asp?blogid=247 The enormity of outpouring of grief, thanks and praise from around the world - from the rich and the poor, the powerful and the meek - for Senator Edward Kennedy points to the breadth of those that he and his family touched over the generations of this century and the last. The Kennedy aura as America's royal family and first family of American politics stems from a rare combination of urbane l... Fri, 28 Aug 2009 11:17:30 CST http://blog.morrisseyco.com/index.asp?blogid=246 http://blog.morrisseyco.com/index.asp?blogid=246 An enjoyable parlor trick is to take a square sheet of paper and fold it in half. Then ask the audience how many times they can fold the paper in half. Most will give a large number of times they can continue to fold the paper, maybe 10 or 12 times. Try the game yourself and you will see that after just four or five folds how difficult it becomes to continue folding. I suspect with certain specia... Fri, 14 Aug 2009 08:37:54 CST http://blog.morrisseyco.com/index.asp?blogid=243 http://blog.morrisseyco.com/index.asp?blogid=243 Do we want our president to be available and accessible or is a little mystery and aloofness preferable? President Obama spent a great deal of his election campaign talking about being closer to the common folk. He won the presidency with an array of social media tools - his Blackberry was always on. When he took office he had a special secure version of this productivity tool created by his in... Mon, 27 Jul 2009 14:20:57 CST http://blog.morrisseyco.com/index.asp?blogid=242 http://blog.morrisseyco.com/index.asp?blogid=242 This week's New Yorker magazine features an article called "Cocksure: Banks, Battles, and the Psychology of Overconfidence," by one of my favorite writers, Malcolm Gladwell. The article explores the reputations for hubris, arrogance and, more importantly, the unrealistic optimism of Wall Street captain-of-the-universe types that led to fatal risk-taking behavior. This behavior was a leading cause ... Fri, 24 Jul 2009 10:19:23 CST http://blog.morrisseyco.com/index.asp?blogid=241 http://blog.morrisseyco.com/index.asp?blogid=241