Admit it: you like watching a train wreck as much as the next guy, and it’s been strange and fascinating to watch this trio of media heavyweights self destruct with their stupid, racist statements. But instead of just gazing at the carnage and shaking our heads maybe there’s something to be learned here. Hey, we’re real estate investors and sometimes we have to work our way out of jams. We're good people so we're not talking about a drunken tirade or a racist rant; but perhaps you've unintentionally offended an influentual community leader, or done something to alienate one of your investing partners. What can we learn from Imus & co?
Mel Gibson: Actor. Director. Drunk. Anti-Semite.
Lesson: Talent (and or power) can facilitate forgiveness. After his stupid, drunken anti-Semitic outburst there was talk of Gibson’s career being over. Then he released an opaque, difficult, foreign language movie – Apocalypto - which was hailed by critics as brilliant and made over $50 million bucks. Gibson’s ability to spin gold makes it more likely that he will be able to salvage his reputation.
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What does this mean to me? Gibson was ham-fisted in his response to this crisis, but in the end he was negotiating from a position of power. If you put your foot in your mouth while you’re holding a good hand then it might pay to concentrate on landing your next success instead of dwelling on the mess you’re in.
Michael Richards: Beloved Kramer. Failed comedian. Anger management candidate.
Lesson: Get a plan, and follow it. It would be too speculative an endeavor to delve into the issues behind Richards’ ugly public meltdown at a Los Angeles comedy club where he repeatedly hurled the N-word at some hecklers. Better to look at Richards’ first attempt at fixing the situation: his awkward, unscripted appearance on the David Letterman show. Richards could have afforded to hire an army of publicists and image consultants to get him looking good and saying the right things. Instead, he showed up looking like he had no idea of what he was going to say and rambled through an ad-hoc, stream of consciousness monologue that only succeeded in making him look confused and weird.
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What does this mean to me? I think I’m a smart enough guy, but when I can choose between relying on being smart and being prepared I’ll choose the latter any day of the week. Be ready to think on your feet if you need to, but in high stakes situations it pays to spend some time beforehand getting your strategy straight. In their negotiation masterwork Getting To Yes Fisher and Ury call this “generating creative options.” Think ‘em through beforehand and have them in your back pocket if you don’t want to look like Michael Richards stumbling through his ad-lib on Letterman.
Don Imus: Radio personality. Shock jock. Idiot.
Lesson: Know when you’re in trouble, and act accordingly (subtitle :: learn from others’ mistakes). Imus knew he’d talked himself into a jam when he referred to the Rutgers womens basketball team as “nappy headed hos”. He’d been in jams before over mysoginist/racist comments, but realized that this time it might cause him his livelihood. And, he had the benefit of learning from the recent misadventures of Richards and Gibson. Imus doesn’t have Gibson’s pull in Hollywood (or at the box office) so the Gibson approach wouldn’t work. For his part, Richards was widely panned not only for his bumbling “apology” on Letterman, but also for the fact that chose the Letterman show as the venue to apologize in the first place. So Imus decided to jump out of the frying pan directly into the fire of the Al Sharpton show. But not before donning his asbestos underwear: in this case a well scripted, well rehearsed no-excuses apology.
- What does this mean to me? Gibson followed up his disgraceful tirade with a box office smash and may be on his way to redemption. Richards, on the other hand, will probably never land another acting gig. Imus was smart enough to realize his situation was a bit closer to Richards than Gibson, and he acted accordingly – so this will likely be a temporary humiliation (a la Gibson) than a death sentence like Richards. When you're in trouble, pretending like everything is ok doesn't work. Act.
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Follow-up :: Hmmm....well in hindsight it looks like I got that little detail about Imus being on the road to redemption kinda wrong. Guess my crystal ball wasn't working too well. But you can't get 'em all right...
