Page 22 - Today’s Business Communication; A How-to Guide for the Modern Professional

WhY MUST I READ ThIS BOOk AND FOLLOW YOUR ADvICE 11

goals publicly. After the first few days of storm response, the Governor
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stopped standing next to Mr. Butler during those press conferences and
chose to leave the room while Mr. Butler addressed the media. CL&P and
Mr. Butler suffered severe damage to their credibility. By mid-November,
Mr. Butler resigned.

You Are the Message

Impression management is important to business success. Great commu-
nicators care for their reputation the same way companies protect their
brands. Those who protect their reputation reap a number of workplace
benefits. For example, research indicates that impression management is
associated with supervisor ratings of one’s likability, job performance, and
citizenship behaviors. In forming opinions about you, people will use
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whatever information they have available to them. This may not seem
fair, but it is true.
Great communicators know that failing to understand this principle
can be disastrous to one’s reputation and career. Cyclist Lance Armstrong
has admitted recently to using performance-enhancing drugs while he
dominated the sport, despite denying it for many years. Not only had
Mr. Armstrong denied allegations of “doping” for years, but he used the
legal system to silence his critics. In fact, many people were upset more by
the tone of his denials than by the nature of the lies they contained. In an
article on the topic, National Public Radio’s Linda Holmes summed up
the public’s feelings about the Armstrong denials:

It’s not just the offense that’s offensive, and it’s not even just the
lying about the offense. It’s the co-opting of the language of inno-
cence. It’s one thing to do something you shouldn’t do; it’s another
thing to ape the gestures and the language and the rage that people
feel when something really isn’t true. To lie straightforwardly is just
dishonest; to thunder about your innocence when you are guilty is
to exploit your audience’s darkest fears of being wrongly accused.
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As a result of his lies and self-righteous indignation, Mr. Armstrong’s per-
sonal brand has been tarnished to the extent that even though he admitted