Page 106 - Roy W. Rice - CEO Material How to Be a Leader in Any Organization-McGraw-Hill (2009)

You Can Be Trusted • 87

to be in that meeting. Use this approach: “I understand there are
accusations about.... Here’s the situation from my point of view. I want
to hear yours.” Push to get exposure and closure right then and there.
Don’t let either party off easy because it’s uncomfortable to discuss.
When you are cleared of wrong-doing, have your company or
organization make a public statement proclaiming your innocence.
Make certain that your accuser publicly apologizes. A threat of legal
action may help to achieve this.
Educate your team—from coworkers to family and friends. Equip
them to be solidly on your side by describing what happened. Be brief
and clear and use humor or irony to communicate what happened.
Accept that people will look at and deal with you in a “trust but
verify” frame of mind for a while.
Get public support. Call or visit people involved and tell them the
situation. Explain it in a way that helps them to avoid a similar
situation. Use humor and irony. “You won’t believe what happened to
me. . . . “Again, be clear and brief, and then stop. If you go on and on, it
looks like you are protesting too much.
When you speak about the situation, look and act good-humored and
good-natured. Maintain a relaxed tone of voice, expression, and demeanor.
Dive in. This is a good time to seek out a special assignment inside your
company that offers the opportunity to prove yourself. If you were
involved in community service or charity work before the accusations, step
up your participation.Whatever you do, don’t hide in embarrassment.
Maintain a professional, good-humored, and good-natured demeanor
around your boss and the accuser going forward. If anyone gets a
sense they’ve “gotten to you,” scared you, or weakened your power, he
or she may try again.
The final step in repairing a damaged reputation is to have
patience. If you are right, attempts at damaging your reputation will
go away. It may take years, but you have to remember: It’s bigger to
you than to anyone else. The same goes if you are wrong.

Without integrity, not much else matters. You will not develop trust,
and people will not follow you. The good thing is that like attitude and
confidence, it is 100 percent up to you regardless of your upbringing, edu-
cation, and place of employment.