Tolerating Egregious Behavior to Protect the Bottom Line Never Has a Happy Ending
4/24/25 – – He’s baaaack!
Harvey Weinstein is back in court in Manhattan being retried on charges of rape and sexual assault. Although he’s serving a 16-year sentence in California for similar crimes, the disgraced 73-year-old movie producer’s 2020 conviction in New York was overturned by the New York Court of Appeals last year.
Why is this of interest to this blog? The reemergence of Mr. Weinstein in the news is a reminder that some of the most damaging and tragic corporate crises arise when the bad behavior of perceived super stars is allowed to metastasize for the sake of the bottom line.
It’s amazing how many companies tolerate “bad apples” within their ranks. The rationalization usually centers on the tradeoff between risk and perceived productivity. “Yes, he’s a horse’s ass, but he’s our best salesman by far.” “Okay, she bends the rules, but her department’s results speak for themselves.” “He steps all over people, but that’s because he wants to get things done.”
In Harvey’s case it was, “Yeah, I’ve heard the stories, but what about the money he raises for charity, the support he provides to progressive causes and politicians, and all those amazing films that big studios would never touch: “Pulp Fiction,” Shakespeare in Love,” “Good Will Hunting,” “The English Patient”?
Excuses like these — enabling outrageous transgressions — are reliable harbingers of crises.
Hollywood’s culture of silence and rationalization allowed this monster for decades to enjoy the riches of fame while living the life of a serial rapist. Powerful, admired people knew a whole lot about what was going on and chose out of greed, self-interest, fear or inhumanity to look the other way. Unlike most of the women Weinstein assaulted, these enablers had the power and support structure to blow the whistle and prevent a crisis that ultimately destroyed careers, companies and hundreds of lives.
How can organizations avoid this fate? Instituting financial controls, codes of conduct, anonymous employee hotlines and ethics training are all important. In addition, business leaders, including corporate directors, should ask their management teams on a regular basis, “Has there been behavior or signals coming from anyone in the company that undermines our culture?” Be honest.
Most important of all: Awareness must lead to action.
Spending his evenings under custody in Bellevue Hospital, the once admired entertainment executive sits looking beleaguered in a wheelchair each day in court. His frail appearance should not distract from the pain he inflicted and the important crisis prevention lesson he embodies.
Crisis Quotient Blog 