The court of public perception is swift, harsh, and often unfair.
At Navigate Response, we spend a great deal of time training our clients on how to protect their company’s reputation in times of crisis. However, in the age of citizen journalism, where the public at large is willing to start recording before lending a helping hand, it’s equally important for individuals to stay vigilant in their everyday personal lives. I experienced a situation recently which reinforced the potential impact public perception can have on all of us.
As a father of two, I spend a considerable amount of time at playgrounds. During a regular outing, we found ourselves at an exceptionally full playground. Dozens of children were happily playing, while the parents were on the sidelines observing, chatting, or on their phones.
Among the many children there that day, there was one child who, for lack of a better description, was being a bully to the other kids. He was a bit older, taller, and was overly aggressive. Pushing, snatching toys, not allowing anyone to use the equipment or have fun. This went on for some time. All the parents were looking at each other trying to identify who the child’s guardian was and why they were not stepping in to stop an obviously upsetting environment. After several more minutes passed, we finally saw an adult stand up and walk over to the child. We thought this is the moment of redemption where the adult who realised what was happening would apologise and put an end to the disruptive behaviour. Unfortunately, this did not happen. The adult never stopped looking at their phone, took the child by the arm and walked away seemingly oblivious to what transpired. All the other parents looked at each other, sighed, rolled their eyes and carried on.
Now, this could have been a wonderful family who just had an off moment, like we all do. But that didn’t matter. Fair or unfair, in that moment in time, all of us passed judgement and that family unintentionally damaged their reputation. The next time we see them, our perceptions will be top of mind and the family will have to overcome the bias created.
What is the lesson here? Our actions matter. In today’s world of heightened sensitivity, everyone is observing our behaviours. Just as companies need to protect their reputations, we also need to be aware that our actions can be perceived in certain ways and can affect our personal lives. This may not be fair as there are always two sides to a story and things are often taken out of context, but this is the reality of the world we live in.
As far as I know no one in the playground that day filmed anything. However, we have all seen videos uploaded online of arguments, minor traffic accidents, customer service incidents, odd behaviours, and more. In those videos, we rarely see both sides. We don’t know what happened before or after. We don’t know who is at fault. We don’t know the full story. What we do know is that those few seconds of video are enough for members of the public to pass judgement.
Once the public at large has decided, whether right or wrong, it’s difficult to rebuild your reputation. The best advice is to always be aware of your surroundings, don’t say or do anything that you wouldn’t want on the front page of the news, and to always keep your cool if confronted in public. Keeping this top of mind will help you manage the court of public perception.
