What Are You Best Known For?

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turteltaub-adam-200x200By Adam Turteltaub
adam.turteltaub@corporatecompliance.org

If you stopped the average American walking down the street on Monday and asked “What is FIFA?”, my bet is that many would have guessed, “A name for a poodle.”

Today, more Americans than ever before know that FIFA is the world body for soccer, even if they still don’t know what the letters stand for.  And for everyone who today does know what FIFA is, they probably also know it’s embroiled in a bribery scandal of epic proportions.

The allegations are stunning:  years and years of corruptions stretching back and forth across continents, with extraditions, guilty pleas, and likely more juicy details to come.  It’s the stuff of TV dramas.

All this notoriety is a good reminder of the reputational damage of a compliance failure.  It can catapult a company’s name to the front page of the newspaper, and on the first screen of internet news sites, and it can keep the name there for weeks, months and even years.

So, the next time an executive says, “Who cares?” to an allegation of wrongdoing, ask them “What do you know about FIFA?”

[bctt tweet=”What Are You Best Known For? @AdamTurteltaub’s thoughts on #FIFA allegations” via=”no”]