I don’t think that we have ever heard an interview like this, but like, ever. In fact, to quote a modern “poet” never, ever, ever. Wednesday, 28th of March’s basting and roasting of Gillian Saunders, deputy CEO of Grant Thornton Johannesburg, is a rare example of a radio show host giving it (t)horns with little room for excuses or manouvering.
Eusebius McKaiser had the bit between his teeth, even before the interview, and he was relentless, intimidating and extremely unforgiving. Seldom do you find an interviewer as direct, unforgiving or as antagonistic as this.
We love this kind of no-holds-barred interview where the interviewee is given no quarter because, so often, interviews are so tame and lame you wonder why they bothered. An interview with someone who should be held to account, is these days seldom an example of how to question someone deeply.
At the core of the Grant Thornton thorny issue is sexual harassment, which is in itself a topic that is often skirted, the proverbial purple, pink and lime elephant in the corner of every corporate office and boardroom. In this particular case, Gillian Saunders was ill prepared for the interview or at the very least, hamstrung in being empowered to be able to answer, fully and honestly, by what we can only presume was very, very bad legal advice.
In this situation legal liability is of course a huge issue and should be considered at all times. However, today’s world allows for less obfuscation. The time to be honest, open and vulnerable is now. Companies need to get to grips with the fact that it is exceedingly reputationally dangerous to hide behind bland statements and platitudes and expect that this is acceptable because, as shown by Mr. McKaiser, it’s really not.
There are several aspects of Ms. Saunders interview that need to be addressed and one of them is definitely her preparation. Media Skills Training is something we have specialised in for more than 2 decades and we can say with a great deal of certainly, never tell a lie or fib – you will be caught out, as Gillian was, several times.
- Make sure that your talking points are relevant and that your facts are unimpeachable. Your position needs to be completely defendable or you shouldn’t be trying to defend it.
- Don’t talk from the Q&A or talking points that you have been provided with, when they are not working.
- Send the most senior and experienced person to do the interview, particularly when the subject matter is a tough one like sexual harassment. (You can hear the tremor in Ms. Saunders’ voice from the moment she says hello. That’s not good. That’s dangerous. Mr. McKaiser could smell fear from the get-go.)
- Send in someone who is comfortable, calm and prepared and is empowered to make executive decisions about what to say and what not to say, on the spur of the moment.
- Understand the timeline and context. You should be better armed with information that the journalist is. You shouldn’t really have the journalist correct you on the facts.
We could go on and on but I am sure you get the gist. Once you have listened to the interview in full you will have cringed enough to agree that in this case, preparation is most of the victory.
The bottom line? Journalists are not out to get you, unless like Ms. Saunders, you become the story. They will however come for you if you lie, tell stories, are liberal with the truth, are disingenuous, avoiding etc. And so they should.
Talk to us if you’d like to Media Train your team on how to handle all interviews, tough and easy alike.
Preparation not only mitigates you and your company’s reputational risk, it can positively impact perception about your brand and allow you to be a valuable interviewee resource.
Don’t come across like a Grant Thornton, or Gillian Saunders. Be prepared. Be honest. No matter what.
Cool quote: “Good is the enemy of great. And that is one of the key reasons why we have so little that becomes great.” Jim Collins, author of Good to Great.
Note: We’ll be doing training in Africa in the second quarter of 2018, let us know if you need some Media Skills or Public Speaking and Presentation Skills Training.
