This week on EthicalVoices, JP Canton, the head of communications and public relations in North America for Polestar discusses ethical issues including:
1) What to do when your boss asks you to make the company seem more diverse than it is
2) Common failings with corporate responses to Black Lives Matter
3) The unethical actions more companies are asking agencies to do and why it is wrong
Kelley Chunn, the principal of Kelley Chunn and Associates, discusses a number of important ethics issues, including:
1) What to do when your employer and you have diametrically different ideas?
2) Do organizations that make mistakes on race and systemic injustice deserve help?
3) Advice for making substantive diversity strides
Erica Salmon Byrne, executive director of the Business Ethics Leadership Alliance, for Ethisphere, sheds insight on a number of key ethics issues for business and public relations. Specifically she addresses:
• Common characteristics of the World’s Most Ethical Companies
• Best practices in ethics training
• How to be an effective ethics counselor
• Ethics challenges we will face today and tomorrow
Joining me on this week’s Ethical Voices episode is Kirk Hazlett, APR, Fellow PRSA, an adjunct professor of communication at the University of Tampa and a PR pro with 35 years of experience with the federal government and non-profits.
Kirk provides some great advice and anecdotes including:
• How an innocent question can cause a huge ethical challenge
• Why you need to question everything
• The best ethics advice he ever received
Joining me on this week’s episode is Roger Friedensen, a partner at Forge Communications, which is a research and communication strategy firm in Raleigh, North Carolina. Roger is a great PR professional and an even better guitar player.
In this interview, Roger discusses:
• When poor word choice can cause an ethics crisis
• How technology will create new ethics dilemmas
• The power of looking in the mirror
• Practical ethics advice from the Torah
Joining me on this week’s episode is Steve Cody, the founder and CEO of Peppercomm, a purpose-driven, strategic, integrative communications and marketing agency. Frankly, Steve is one of the most incisive and insightful PR pros I have ever met.
In this free-wheeling discussion, Steve addressed a number of key ethical issues including:
• Unexpected ethics pitfalls
• How to build an ethical team
• Where companies and agencies fail ethically
• Ethics in research
• Diversity failures
Joining me on this week’s episode is Elise Mitchell, the chairman of Mitchell Communications Group and CEO of the Dentsu Public Relations network. Elise is one of the most inspiring and insightful communications executives whom I have ever met and the author of a great book on leadership: Leading Through the Turn.
In a very engaging discussion, Elise highlights:
• Ethics issues with Intellectual Property
• How to avoid accidentally infringing on other companies’ IP
• Companies stealing agencies IP
• Creating a culture of try
• The best ethics advice she ever received
Joining me on this week’s episode of Ethical Voices is Mike McDougall, APR, Fellow PRSA, the president of McDougall Communications, and the former global vice president of corporate communications with Bausch and Lomb.
In this fascinating and practical interview, Mike provides outstanding advice for dealing with difficult issues, including:
• Unexpected issues with plant closings
• Dealing with real ‘Fake News’ issues (i.e. when your client makes things up)
• Data privacy
• The best ethics advice he ever received
Joining me on this week’s episode is Dave Close, the retired managing director of MSL Boston. I have known Dave for more than 25 years and frankly I do not know anyone who is a better example of character, ethics and compassion.
In the interview, Dave discusses a number of topics including:
How to tell a client they are being unethical
Little ethics fails: avoiding the slippery slope
Ethics challenges and new business
The best ethics advice he ever received
In this week’s Ethical Voices interview, Joe Cohen, APR, CCO of AXIS Capital and President of the PRSA Foundation, shares insights and examples of a few ethical issues he faced early in his career, before he joined AXIS Capital.
Specifically, Joe discusses:
The importance of disclosure
Responding ethically when an employee is harassed
The challenges of being “Healthy”
Fighting unconscious bias