Great Morning Team!
Happy July 1st! I hope you are all looking forward to a nice summer break and ready to enjoy some quality time with loved ones, enjoying the many festivities as we celebrate our country’s independence!
I just returned from the Society for Human Resources Management conference in Chicago this past week, and it was incredible! There were so many “golden nuggets” of knowledge shared, along with a wealth of strategies to support our transformative and thriving culture! These annual conferences take an enormous amount of work and logistical gymnastics. This includes many months of intricate planning by several TEAMS of people, both staff and volunteers, to make the execution of a conference of this magnitude flawless. I share this texture if you will, because what happened just a few hours prior to our opening session this past Sunday at 3pm was almost unbelievable.
I landed in Chicago at 1pm to an alert on my conference app stating, “Jason Sudeikis has decided to cancel his Main Stage appearance at the last minute.” That’s right… Jason Sudeikis, the creator, screenwriter and actor of Ted Lasso canceled his Keynote address at the last minute for our opening session made up of 26,000 HR Professionals attending in-person from around the world. I was surprised by the directness of the messaging more than anything else, as there was not a trace of empathy; and hours later, I understood why. It turns out this was not a case of cancelling due to some extraordinary circumstance. Jason just decided that he wanted to attend a WNBA game instead, to see Caitlin Clark play. That’s it. It appears he didn’t just cancel…he bailed.
I am fascinated by human behavior, so confession here, I would have loved to have been a fly on the wall for that “cancel conversation”, and especially to see the skill of enormous restraint and composure utilized from the SHRM Event Coordinator who was likely on the other end of that discussion. (SHRM managed to get Al Roker to come in and speak for our opening session and he was wonderful!) While SHRM didn’t share the reasoning, the media took care of that for us organically. Sudeikis was spotted in the bleachers at the game on the big screen. As you know, bad news has a way of spreading like wildfire, and the flames were indeed everywhere. Bloggers and companies began writing, and a flurry of articles across the internet ensued, complete with photos.
There was quite a range of responses to this debacle as well. Most viewed the situation as a departure from integrity, commitment and trust. While others could not separate the character of Ted Lasso from the person. Ex: “Ted Lasso would never let us down, and now he did.” “I still believe, but less so now.” Some were angry, and very few empathized. Viewpoints and media aside, I was taken with one statement made in the following days by Marvin Ellison, Chairman and CEO of Lowe’s, and recipient of this year’s Ethical Leader of the Year award. In his speech, which had nothing to do with Sudeikis, he summed up the big picture about commitment and why it matters:
“Your word is your bond. When you keep your word, you build your reputation with the statement that you are ethical above all.”
Sadly, I am certain the trickle effect of the actions of Mr. Sudeikis is far from over, however what I know for sure is that integrity and ethics are the cornerstones of everything. It is what is required for others to feel safe and to trust implicitly. When we commit to someone, it matters deeply. When we give someone our word, we ask for their trust in us to do what we say we will do, without question. The commitments we make to others are significant in deepening our relationships and connect us to our own personal integrity, and what we stand for. Whether or not we uphold these values is always a choice, and of course, the consequences of our actions to consider if we don’t. Perhaps that is the real “Lasso Lesson” for us all.
Wishing you all a Better We, Better Week! 😊
Lori Beth
