We can’t control the people who work for us, as Republican leaders learned this week after Rep. Todd Akin‘s now-infamous inaccurate remark that it’s extremely rare for rape victims to get pregnant.
Despite entreaties from GOP leaders, including presumptive vice-presidential nominee Rep. Paul Ryan, Akin is continuing his run for the Missouri Senate seat. And all this focus on what he said, his alleged sources of information and the backfighting in the party are proving a negative distraction for the Republican national convention in Tampa next week.
The greater organizational issues one can take away from this are both of a preventative and a reactive nature. From a preventative perspective, how can an organization create a culture of inclusion and respect so people do not feel they can make blatantand erroneousstatements that are harmful to others And once a statement is made or action taken, what are the legal and ethical ways to respond How do you prevent negative stereotypes from seriously impacting productivity
