LONDON, ENGLAND - OCTOBER 11: Amber Heard and Johnny Depp attend the "Black Mass" Virgin Atlantic ... [+]
As the dust continues to settle from one of the most-watched trials of this century, with more than 330 million viewers tuning in, lessons for leaders have emerged. We've seen how words and actions taken out of context can take on a life of their own. We've seen how the power of personality impacts perceptions and decisions. And we've seen how easy it is for people to band together over something or someone that they dislike. Together, the dynamics of the trial have provided four important lessons for leaders.
The messenger matters
A common piece of feedback regarding Amber Heard is that she wasn't likeable on the stand. That then impacted her credibility and trustworthiness. Who a message is delivered from is more important than the message. Deciding whether we trust someone is a tricky mental calculation because we usually won't have enough evidence or prior experience with a relative stranger to make that decision. Therefore, we substitute trust with something much easier for us to wrap our heads around, and that is simply how much we like the person in question. If one focuses on being likeable, trust usually follows.
Unfortunately, women in leadership positions have an extra burden of proof to be likeable. A man and woman can say the same thing in the same tone, and often the man is labelled "confident" and the woman "aggressive."
Leadership coaching, especially around authenticity, can help leaders present themselves in the best possible light. Authenticity is a coachable trait. Training traditionally includes reflective assessments to better understand oneself.
Context is key
In a world where the cameras are always on, anything leaders say on film can be taken out of context and turned into the next viral meme. Many viewers took clips of the trial and put them to various sounds, captions, etc. effectively creating a “trial by TikTok." People can now dissect any moment and then have it take on a life of its own. It's easier than ever now to lose control of the narrative.
Leaders would do well to remember that not all town halls are private and not all controversial emails stay internal. For example, Google received negative press after an infamous memo detailing one employee's opinion on gender diversity in the workplace was leaked to the media. While the employee in question was fired, it shed an uncomfortable light on Google's own internal diversity metrics and its gender pay gap.
Conduct a pre-mortem for critical announcements
A pre-mortem is an effective debiasing technique to temper any overconfidence a leader may have about how either themselves or a decision will be received. This technique asks you to look into the future to predict all the ways something could go wrong — and then work backwards to put solutions in place to try to prevent the potential negative outcomes. Applying this prospective hindsight forces teams to consider outcomes and risks that were glossed over or had not been thought of at all. In the case of this trial, a pre-mortem might have helped Heard's legal team spot risks such as Depp's charm and devoted fan base.
Genuine wins every time
As an internal communications or public relations team, you won't be able to protect your leaders from all missteps. But upskilling them in key traits such as empathy, likeability and authenticity will help soften the fall. Above all else, if your leader is genuine, it will go a long way in helping them to quickly get back in the good graces of your employees and the public.
