The Skewering of Skilling [1]
Submitted by Sheldon Rampton [2] on
Last week, PR industry pundit Fraser Seitel opined that former Enron CEO Ken Lay made a PR blunder by refusing to testify [3] before Congress. "You should answer every question squarely and straightforwardly. Duck nothing," he advised. This week [4] he thinks that Lay's partner in crime, Jeff Skilling, also blundered by the way he did testify. "The Skilling testimony -- designed to showcase the former Enron executive as a candid, honest and willing witness -- boomeranged like a Mike Tyson social call to Lennox Lewis," Seitel writes. What should other scandal-ridden corporate executives do if called before Congress? Seitel offers advice on the best way to weasel through the ordeal: don't act arrogant, don't pick fights with the media, and don't invoke the "Sergeant Schultz" defense of "I see nothing."