As a young college student in 2011, Alexi McCammond’s tweets included racist and homophobic remarks. In 2019, while working as a reporter at Axios, she apologized for and deleted those earlier tweets. Now 27, those tweets resurfaced, forcing McCammond to resign from a prestigious job that she had not yet begun as editor-in-chief of Teen Vogue.
The incident is a temporary crisis for the publication and a tough life lesson for McCammond. It should, however, be a teaching moment for everyone with a social media account and a management lesson for organizations.
At the time McCammond was offered the top…
In a matter of just a few days, the Wall Street Journal managed to turn an insulting article about Dr. Jill Biden’s rightful use of her hard-earned title into a much more serious insult. The controversy began with an op-ed by a long-time opinion writer who urged the next First Lady to drop the title “Dr.” from her name. His patronizing tone was consistent with other writings in which he equated diversity with a diminishment in quality.
The intense critical response to the article focused on the blatant gender bias that permeated the piece. A man with a college degree…
In a Schitt-show of a year, the Schitt’s Creek sweep of the comedy Emmys provided the gift we all needed: watching goodness win. Since the pandemic began, the series has been a remedy for anyone in need of a sweet reprieve from the horrors of the headlines.
To those who have not yet discovered this joyous gem, the story follows the riches to rags story of the Rose family: former video store magnate Johnny, his wife Moira, and their two adult children, David, and Alexis — that is, new Emmy winners Eugene Levy, Catherine O’Hara, David Levy, and Annie Murphy…
The country continues to catapult deeper into the unknown consequences arising from the coronavirus outbreak. For the elderly who are confined to long-term care, the menace of COVID-19 reaches far beyond the threat of the disease.
For the more than 1.3 million people residing within the nation’s 15,600 nursing homes, CDC requirements essentially ended family visits, communal meals, and activities. As the elderly are among the most likely to become gravely ill and die from the disease, these restrictions are understandable.
The rules, however, are also psychologically devastating. Those living in long-term care facilities are the most vulnerable of our…
NBC’s aggressive response to Ronan Farrow’s new book demonstrates that the company’s talent for producing great fictional TV may be spilling over into its management practices. It also reveals why victims stay silent in the face of misconduct.
Farrow’s New Allegations
In his book, Catch and Kill, Farrow alleged that while working at NBC, his investigation into Harvey Weinstein was derailed by senior management after Weinstein threatened that he would divulge Lauer’s misconduct if Farrow’s work was not stopped. …
How often do we truly see beloved relatives as the individuals that lie beneath the surface of their familiar faces? A recent visit with a niece attending graduate school on the other side of the country taught me an important lesson about family communication and lost generational connections.
It is a lesson that ties to a conversation with my brother about questions we wished we could ask our dad, a World War II veteran who fought on Okinawa and returned home with his wartime memories tucked deeply away. …
Give more meaningful guidance to young professionals by tapping into their future, not your past
I recently had a conversation with an engaging woman about to start her senior year in high school. In response to my predictable question about the status of her college search, she spoke of her interest in politics and medicine, her passion for helping people, and the difficulty she felt in choosing how she could best serve others as either a lawyer or a doctor.
Always curious about the guidance young people receive from senior generations, I inquired about the advice she has sought as she pondered her array of college choices. She recounted her conversation with her mom’s friend…
Too often, conversations about workplace diversity feel like the movie “Ground Hog Day” where Bill Murray’s character wakes to his alarm clock playing “I Got You Babe,” and he is then off to relive the day before. Murray finally transforms his callous character and starts a new day, a life lesson we have not yet learned in the workplace.
Instead, we wake to headlines revealing behaviors at work that are rooted in bias and have persisted for decades. Conversations about workplace discrimination and harassment vary little today from the conversations that have taken place over the past decades.
Stalled Progress and Misuse of Authority
Progress has…
This article was updated July 17, 2019.
Mr. Rogers used to tell children who felt scared or vulnerable to “look for the helpers.” If he were alive today to see the long-overdue indictment of Jeffrey Epstein, he might offer this advice to federal prosecutors: “Look for the enablers.”
Billionaire Jeffrey Epstein is alleged to have sexually abused and trafficked both children and young adults for decades, luring countless girls to his various mansions. There, they were told to take off all or most of their clothes and massage Epstein, an act that would often end in sexual assault. …
The sentencing of Larry Nassar does not end a horrific chapter for Michigan State University. Rather, it marks the beginning of investigations and lawsuits that will shine a harsh light on the way in which leadership and governance failed the very people they are there to serve.
In the wake of Nassar’s lengthy sentence and the resignation of MSU’s president and athletic director, facts continue to emerge that demonstrate the tragic results that occur when the protection of a reputation overrides the responsibility of governance. …
Lauren Stiller Rikleen
#Speaker, #consultant, #workplace #trainer. #Author of The Shield of Silence: How Power Perpetuates a Culture of Harassment and Bullying in the Workplace
