In business, Right Wrongs includes “service recoveries” or rectifying mistakes made with customers—hopefully so well that customersare not only satisfied, they are also given incentive to develop even greater loyalty to the company. The “little more” a company might add to encourage such loyalty could be a small thing, such as including a free product or gift certificate with a corrected order to apologize forthe inconvenience. Or it could be a big thing, like JetBlue not charging customers any fees for missing their flight.
In a personal or family relationship recovery, that “little more” could be an extra-mile effort to express love, such as accompanying asincere apology and restitution with a thoughtful gesture, such as flowers or breakfast in bed.
HUMILITY AND COURAGE—OR EGO AND PRIDE?
Right Wrongs is based on the principles of humility, integrity, and restitution. Its opposite is to deny or justify wrongs, to rationalize wrongful behavior, or to fail to admit mistakes until you’re forced to do so. It involves ego and pride. It’s being humbled by circumstance instead of by conscience. The counterfeit of Right Wrongs is to cover up. It’s trying to hide a mistake, as opposed to repairing it. In the case of Right Wrongs, the counterfeit actually creates a double trust tax, one tax when you make the mistake, and another—usually a far greater tax—when you try to cover it up and get caught. The reality is that everybody makes mistakes.The issue isn’t whether you will make them, it’s what you will do about them. It’s whether you will choose the path of humility and courage or the path of ego and pride.
Consider some examples of those who have chosen the path ofhumility and courage. Recently Oprah Winfrey helped put JamesFrey’s book, A Million Little Pieces, on the New York Times bestseller list by naming it as her book club selection. When accusations were raised that Frey had embellished incidents in the supposedly “nonfiction” book, Oprah initially defended the author. However, when she discovered the truth, she brought him back on her show. She sincerely apologized to her viewers, and she publicly chastised Frey for betraying both his readers and her television audience.
She said, “I feel duped. But more importantly, I feel that you betrayed millions of readers.” She also acknowledged that she made a mistake when she had called in to Larry King’s talk show and defended the author. “I regret that phonecall,” she said. “I made a mistake and I left the impression that the truth does not matter, and I am deeply sorry about that. That is not what I believe. To everyone who has challenged me on this issue of truth, you are absolutely right.” Oprah’s behavior affirmed people’s confidence in her integrity and her genuine concern for others, which has been the hallmark of her brand and reputation.
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An excerpt from my book, The Speed of Trust. Copyright (C) 2006 by CoveyLink, LLC. Reprinted by permission of Free Press, a divison of Simon and Schuster, Inc. To read my previous post, "Growing Your Trust Account," click here.
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Comments: 6
If a novel is fiction, please, label it as such. Non-fiction writing should be held to the same standards as academic and newspaper journalism. Frey, and maybe his publisher, knew that a trite drug-addict-recovery story would be more popular as a "real" memoir.
Mr. Frey was not a writer. He was a drunk and an addict that became a writer. He needed direction in that area and the publisher, in an attempt to make the most money and get the most publicity, denied him the knowledge to successfully make an ethical decision on how his book was to be received. This is what I believe happened.
I see some of the wonderful things that she does for people and I have to give her the benefit of doubt. No one is perfect and she may have truly felt duped and betrayed by this author and felt that she let her audience down in allowing herself to be. I do still think that further investigation, although maybe not exonerating Frey completely, may have incriminated the most guilty.