Responsibility and Weenies

Okay, I do not mean like Liberty Mutual. "When people do it, its called responsibility. When an insurance company does it, its Liberty Mutual." No, its not. Its called marketing. You are marketing your company. You want people to see you as compassionate and great. You want them to pay you money. And, Liberty Mutual is not compassionate. They do not go to great lengths to help anyone.

Their claims are handled by people who generally cannot put out a full paragraph of thought. Seriously, I received a letter from one of their adjusters that was two sentences. Incomplete sentences. No verb. How do you consider that responsible? Responsible would be hiring people who understand proper usage of the English language. I am pretty sure my high school English teacher (who probably is smart enough not to read this) taught me how to write a complete sentence. It is not that hard.

If you want responsible, try paying claims in a timely manner. How about this: when someone is rear ended, do not deny liability for the accident? If you refuse to settle the claim, when you receive a request for admission that says "Admit the front of Defendant's car struck the rear of Plaintiff's car" respond by saying "Admit" instead of "Defendant cannot admit nor deny." You can - you choose not to. That is not responsible. It is a decision. And I am fine with it, but then don't tell people how responsible you are. That is called hypocritical.

Sorry. That was a long tangent. I really didn't mean to go there. It just happens sometimes.

Responsibility means that you are open and honest. You take a position and you stand by it. You don't run and hide. At least, that is what it means in the context of this post. Look, if you run an organization, be it a non-profit, a corporation, or your local homeowners crazy group, er, association, you are sometimes forced to make a decision. It happens. That is why you are the leader. You make the decision and you stand by it. Some people won't like it. But when they don't, you defend your position.

It really isn't that hard. Lets say you decide not to publicly oppose bad legislation. When someone says "Why didn't you oppose it?" you say "We didn't oppose it because................" I don't really care what comes after the because. It could be "because we are lame arses who couldn't understand the impact of the legislation." It could be "because we aren't smart enough to figure out the legislation." It could be "because we wussed out." It could be "because we don't want to upset someone else."

You see, the reason is less important than the fact that you stand by your position. Let me give you a real life situation. In the 80s, there was the Tylenol scare. Those of you too young to remember should google it. Johnson and Johnson pulled all Tylenol off the store shelves. People thought it was a dumb move and questioned it. And the response was simple: "We did this because we thought it was the right thing to do." Voila - problem solved. Tylenol sales shot up after it was back on the market.

You see, they explained it. It may not have been the world's most eloquent defending of a decision. It may not have even been the right decision. But they made a decision, stood by it and defended it. Now that example is used in business schools around the country as a case study.

However, other people, sit by and refuse to explain their decisions. I guess that's fine if you are a weenie. Seriously. Its like the little kid who is losing in the neighborhood football game so says "I am taking my ball and going home." That kid is a weenie. Admit it - that is what you called him growing up. Those weenies grow up to be today's weenies. And today's weenies do the same thing.

"I decided not to do x." So, why did you decide not to do x? "I am not saying." Really? That is your best comeback. Its like saying "I am rubber. You are glue. Whatever you say bounces off of me and sticks on you." Seriously, it is like playing a game of Snaps and using "Yo mama so ugly she don't wear a Halloween costume." Seriously. Its lame. (By the way, try this: Yo mama so ugly she makes Michael Jackson look like George Clooney or try this: Yo mama so white she makes Michael Jackson look like he did in the 80s or try this: Yo mama so hairy she makes a poodle look bald.)

If you want to play with the big boys, you explain yourself. Plain and simple. You don't want to explain yourself? Then go teach law school. By yourself. At some place like Lorenzo Patino School of Law (bar passage rate: -15%. Yes, they actually have more students fail than graduate). Until you are ready to do that, you aren't ready to lead a troupe of Brownies.