Violating Your Core Purpose and Personality Can Lead to Violent Reputational Storms
8/15/23 – – Betrayal is a powerful theme in literature. Et tu, Brute? The kiss of Judas. Lancelot’s inappropriate feelings for Queen Guinevere. It’s also an element in corporate and celebrity dramas that adds ferocity to reputational crises.
Recently, we’ve witnessed examples of this with the challenges facing recording artist Lizzo and the wellness company WW International (formerly known as Weight Watchers).
In Chapter 4 of The Crisis Preparedness Quotient (“How Crises Typically Play Out: 10 Predictable Tendencies”) we discuss how crises unfold and examine ways to prevent their occurrence. One of the 10 tendencies we highlight is:
The severity and duration of a crisis are determined in large part by the level of organizational betrayal.
The closer a company comes to violating its core purpose and the promises it makes to consumers, employees, communities and investors, the more damaging a crisis will be. What a company or individual stands for is important. Crisis situations that run counter to that are especially hard to handle.
Betrayal of a core purpose is one of the reasons the Catholic Church’s pedophilia crisis was so horrendous. If not for centuries of good work and reputational equity (and perhaps some divine intervention), the church might not have weathered this storm.
Arthur Andersen’s mishandling of its auditing responsibilities with Enron was close enough to the bone (fiduciary malfeasance is directly counter to an accounting firm’s raison d’etre) to bring down the respected accounting firm and its more than 85,000 employees.
In 2020, credible charges of racism, fear and intimidation on the set of the Ellen DeGeneres Show came to light. Despite Ellen’s apologies to her audience and fans, the toxic environment was so counter to Ellen’s tolerant, kind persona, the program aired for the last time in 2022 after 19 years and more than 3,000 episodes.
Earlier this month, NBC reported that three former backup dancers for hip-hop star Lizzo had filed suit against the zaftig singer and her Big Grrrl Big Touring production company alleging sexual harassment and a hostile work environment. What made the litigation so newsworthy was a charge that Lizzo, an outspoken promoter of “body positivity” and champion for full-figured women, had “weight-shamed” the dancers.
Lizzo has dismissed the allegations as “false and outrageous,” but the Made In America Festival, scheduled for early September in Philadelphia, headlined by Lizzo, has been canceled and a rumored halftime performance at the Super Bowl is no longer being discussed. With additional former employees reported to be preparing lawsuits supporting the claims, the trajectory of Lizzo’s meteoric career is in jeopardy.
Earlier this year, WW International announced its acquisition of Sequence, described by the company as, “a subscription telehealth platform offering access to healthcare providers specializing in chronic weight management.” In plain English, Sequence provides obesity medications like Ozempic, Wegovy, and Rybelsus for weight loss.
How could this be interpreted as betrayal?
If you’ve ever been a member of Weight Watchers or had dinner with one, you know that the company has stood for dietary discipline, self-control and group support. Crash diets, drugs and other unsustainable “quick fixes” have been shunned. So, it’s understandable that loyal followers, unhappy with the sudden pivot, have been expressing their displeasure.
One 15-year member told Bloomberg News, “Weight Watchers has kicked us to the curb.” And another complained, “They’re not practicing what they preached.”
WW CEO Sima Sistani defended the new offering, insisting, “The WeightWatchers you know and love is not going anywhere. It’s an ‘and,’ not an ‘or.'” She added, “Willpower alone is complex,” pointing to genetic, environmental and socioeconomic factors.
Betrayal is complex, too. And while Wall Street has applauded the struggling company’s new direction, it remains to be seen if WW can hold onto core customers who bought into a very different approach to what can be a life-long health challenge.
How can companies and individuals avoid falling into a crisis of betrayal? Have a clear understanding of and commitment to your purpose. Stay in character and live up to the promises you make to all stakeholders. Treat trust as one of your most precious and fragile assets.
The only repair for betrayal is forgiveness, and that takes repentance, lots of hard work and time to achieve. It will be interesting to see if Lizzo and WW can pull it off.
UPDATE: 10/14/23 – – The Wall Street Journal reports on the consumer and investor response to WW’s (Weight Watchers) offering of weight loss drugs and the company’s apologizing for much of its past.
UPDATE: 5/7/25 – – WW files for bankruptcy protection.
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