Blog - Mahony Partners

Sep

2011

The 3 things UBS must do

Financial Services, Taking & Managing Risk

Today’s stunning announcement by UBS that a rogue trader lost $2 billion presents big communications challenges for the Swiss bank. It will need to be forthcoming with regulators about the reasons for the loss and the breakdown in the bank’s internal controls. It must reassure private clients that their assets are safe, keep valued employees from fleeing and address investor concerns about the scale of risk-taking in the investment bank – all while trying to rebuild its businesses during a very rocky time in the markets. Clearly UBS has to answer some very tough questions abo... Read More

Sep

2011

Still waiting for a really good 9/11 speech

Friday Risk Reading

It seems to me that the words of our political leaders have always fallen short against the tragedy of the September 11 terrorist attack. In the days immediately afterwards, elected leaders offered words of comfort and calls to unity, but they seemed dwarfed by the enormity of the horror, and none are remembered today. It was easier to invoke the words of others, either from scripture or from familiar leaders like Lincoln and Roosevelt, who rallied the nation in times of hardship and war. The speeches the tenth anniversary of the attack likewise fell short. Even the eloquence of Pr... Read More

Sep

2011

Friday Risk Reading: Inside Mario Batali’s kitchen

Taking & Managing Risk, The Cooking Chronicles

In keeping with the debut of the “Cooking Chronicles” on this blog, I have selected Heat, by Bill Buford, as this Friday’s recommended risk reading. Heat is a lively, insightful account of Buford’s experience as an amateur cook in the kitchen of renowned chef Mario Batali. Buford abandons the security of his desk job to indulge his curiosity about cooking by becoming an apprentice in one of Batali’s top restaurants, starting at the ... Read More

Sep

2011

Update: How to communicate a CEO firing

Media, Taking & Managing Risk

In a recent post on Yahoo's firing of Carol Bartz, I noted that the manner in which the Yahoo board handled it could make it easy for Bartz to offer her point of view in the media. So it comes as little surprise that Fortune today posted a lively interview with Bartz, explitives included. It looks like this story will prove entertaining for a little while yet. Read More

Sep

2011

A look back at 6 lessons in crisis communication from 9/11

Financial Services, Taking & Managing Risk

Like many people, I have been thinking about the events of September 11, 2001, as the tenth anniversary approaches. This article from the New York Times earlier this week focused on the media’s efforts to cover the anniversary with sensitivity, and it called to mind some remarks I gave about the media’s conduct in the immediate aftermath of the tragedy. In February 2002, just a few months after the attack, I had a chance to reflect on the lessons of 9/11 at a meeting of the Public Relations Society of New York. ... Read More

Sep

2011

The Cooking Chronicles: Homemade tomato sauce

The Cooking Chronicles

There's really only one sure-fire way to use up the tomatoes that are coming out of the garden right now in epic numbers, and that is to turn the little beasties into sauce. This is easier than it might appear. The secret is having the right equipment; in this case, a food mill. This wonder of 19th-century technology squeezes out the juice and traps the seeds, to leave you with a lovely tomato puree to season, simmer and enjoy. Read More

Sep

2011

The Cooking Chronicles: A Debut

The Cooking Chronicles

I’ve decided to start adding my thoughts and experience regarding cooking, which is one of my favorite activities. Cooking offers some parallels to the overall theme of risk-taking I’m so fond of extolling in these pages. That’s what I hope to explore anyway. At its best, cooking is improvisational, highly creative, personal, which could well describe any worthwhile business venture. One of the highlights of last week’s blackout-induced stay-at-home camping experience was some creative cooking. Several fine dishes from our kitchen. The tomatoes were plump and bursting on the vine, so we made some delicious fresh salsa that was eaten fast (so no need for the idle refrigerator). A d... Read More

Sep

2011

How to communicate a CEO firing – Part 2

Taking & Managing Risk

Thanks to Yahoo’s dismissal of Carol Bartz, we have a fresh example of how CEO firings are communicated. Instead of a well-crafted joint news release, Bartz herself trumped the company’s announcement by sending a terse, firm-wide email that quickly found its way to the press. And before everyone else had it, Kara Swisher at Dow Jones’s AllThingsDigital broke the news. The company’s news release followed the first media reports by an hour – a lifetime in today’s media... Read More

Sep

2011

3 Communication tips when firing the CEO

Financial Services, Taking & Managing Risk

Last week Bank of New York Mellon (NYSE: BK) abruptly announced that its CEO, Robert Kelly was leaving, citing “differences in approaches to managing the company.” The story made headlines for a day but was quickly forgotten, and the stock price has held pretty steady – both hallmarks of a communications success. Of course it helps that the bank doesn’t stir public passions the way some other banks do, and that its business dwells in the normally sedate world of securities custody and transaction processing. Still,... Read More

Sep

2011

Cantor Fitzgerald: A Lesson in Risk Taking

Financial Services, Taking & Managing Risk

Ten years after the terror attack that killed two-thirds of its New York staff and nearly destroyed the firm, Cantor Fitzgerald is thriving, the New York Times reported in a Sunday feature. The firm’s success is due in large measure to CEO Howard Lutnick and a handful of executives who survived the day. Their determination, hard work and willingness to take risks brought the firm through an unimaginably difficult ordeal. (Disclosure: I was the principal Read More