A matter of Trust

Like any important issue, be it personal or business related, things come down to something that cannot ever be comprised. Trust. Relationships, no matter how good they seem on the surface, can never be totally fulfilled, or successful, if trust is not entirely a cornerstone of the relationship.

In recent times, we've seen Tiger Woods violate this trust with his wife and his fans in general. Jessee James has likewise done so to his spouse, Sandra Bullock, who is currently one of America's reigning Sweethearts.

In the business world, we've all seen the ramifications of lost trust by the excesses of those companies on Wall Street, and before that, organizations like Enron. Our politicians have also, in my lifetime, beginning with President Nixon, greatly disappointed us by violating the trust we gave to them via our votes. It has greatly contributed to the cynicism that now pervades our minds instead of the idealism that those of us called the "Baby Boomers" once were blessed with.

Now, with the disaster in the Gulf of Mexico, British Petroleum, or "BP", keeps violating our trust. They have done this, and are apparently going to continue to do so, by either bald-faced lying, or "concealing" the truth, about what is actually happening with the enormous amount of oil that is flowing from their underwater well.

BP, and the other companies who were involved with the rig, first began finger pointing when asked about the causes for the eruption. Then BP erroneously indicated the amount of oil that was being ejected into the ocean. They also denied the existence of oil plumes, which other scientists have now proven exist. Though it is difficult to measure exactly how much oil is currently flowing, it looks like it is considerably more than what BP is claiming at present.

British Petroleum had attempted to hide the pictures of the oil flowing - until enough pressure was put on them by congress, President Obama, and the American public, that they truly had no choice in the matter but to allow news organizations to show these images. Their CEO is a disaster himself. Any Public Relations person would cringe if they knew he was going to say in advance of what he said. How someone with P.R. experience failed to coach him is a mystery to me.

They continue to say one thing and do another. People who are in danger of losing their livelihoods - for a long time - are complaining of both red tape and slow pay, as they try to ward off their creditors. Based on BP's performance to date, this should be no surprise to anyone.

Now this company is purportedly spending $50 million in advertising to repair their incredibly damaged image. I believe it is way too late.

As I learned as a child, it is better when you make a mistake to own up to it, apologize, tell the truth, and do everything you can to fix it - no matter what. I utilized this credo in my career too, and it never failed me. Too bad BP's CEO and it's board of directors didn't learn what I did as a kid. Because once you lose trust, it is gone forever.

Old Fart Mike