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The Letterman Lesson
David Letterman’s disclosure of sexual liaisons with employees as well as an extortion plot related to publication of the information has been headlines since Thursday, when Dave shared the story on camera. The key takeaway (from our perspective) from Dave’s disclosure isn’t about sex, it’s about candor and forgiveness. He took socially alienating behavior (sex with employees) and turned it into creepy-but-less-relevant. And he did it all while remaining quintessentially “Dave”.
Letterman rolled into the story in a way that the audience thought was a joke. He often sits at his desk after the monologue and tells a personal tale (some of which have a kernel of truth, others of which are complete invention), and told the story of his being the target of an extortion plot (Yikes! Is that true?) He had testified before the grand jury related to the extortion plot. (Wow! It must be true. Good citizen, Dave!) The extortion was over Dave’s creepy behavior (Uh-oh. Did he do it or not?) The man was indicted (the greater evil was done against Dave, not by Dave).
The behavior that gave rise to the extortion plot was superficially confessed, but the focus of the story was on the crime against Dave, not on the salacious details. (No concessions to privacy, a simple acknowledgment of creepiness, no request for forgiveness). The audience was left with feelings of “Wow!” Without understanding the meaning of what they had just heard, they knew this was performance art at a very high level. And they were right.
Putting aside for now the potential nightmare of an executive admitting to what might turn into sexual harassment of employees (for a moment), the way in which he did it was a study in disarming style. Unlike many CEO’s and politicians, he came to the disclosure of his conduct with an identity as a maverick and without the baggage of moral superiority. Litigators who deal with morally questionable behavior (are there any who don’t?) ought to download this video and keep it in a safe place.
The lessons embodied in his disclosure track very well with the articles we have written on keenetrial.com about “Client No 9: Defending Uncivil Behavior” and “The Art of Apology”.
• Get out in front of the tabloids and control the message
• Don’t make excuses for bad behavior
• Don’t try to make it what it is not
• Frame the conduct as the public is likely to frame it, and admit to whatever character flaws that attach to it
• To the extent feasible, put it in historical context, without making excuses.
• Apologize to those hurt
• Make the case for understanding, but don’t ask for forgiveness. Just the facts.
To this point, no suits have been filed against Letterman for sexual harassment. It is unclear whether there will be any, but it seems likely that the events of this week will make future disclosure by those with whom he had sex more possible. At this moment, though, his candor might make a jury more tolerant of his conduct, unless victimization of the women involved is made clear.
We encourage you to read the two papers mentioned above. They were inspired by celebrity scandal (especially that of Eliot Spitzer) but they also pertain to the pedestrian misconduct that we see every day. Indeed, one of the effects of this conduct is to make the lofty appear to be pedestrian.
Write to us about what you think— an email or a blog comment.. If you see the Letterman disclosure as warranting a new article in the series, let us know. We’ll write it. Who needs fiction? You just can’t make this stuff up.
Note: We hope you write to us with your comments about the blog and about the articles, but we also hope you understand this: Our consultation about how to handle public disclosure of “uncivil behavior” is not an endorsement of the alleged behavior. Both as psychologists and as litigation consultants, we understand very well the potentially grave ramifications of sexual harassment and the impact of disloyal behavior on families.
Related posts:
http://bit.ly/mVd4j target=Lessons to learn for trial lawyers from the Letteman admission.
RT @BlawgTweets: New @keenetrial: The Letterman Lesson http://bit.ly/ojq1H
RT @BlawgTweets: New @keenetrial: The Letterman Lesson http://bit.ly/ojq1H