opinion | Sony cyberattacks require strong, fearless leadership

What made headlines about the recent cyberattack on Sony was not the revelation that Hollywood is filled with big shots and bigger egos. I doubt that many would be surprised to hear about such rancor in a big name studio—an industry in which narcissism is the key to stardom. Like a sewer main break in the midst of AnyStreet, USA, the shock came not from the stink, but from the suddenness and the scale.

And boy, does it smell.

Documents and emails between executives describing working relationships in harsh, stinging language. Leaked social security numbers, passports, and paygrades. And with each passing day, the inaction of the Sony parent company erodes the consumer trust the brand has worked so hard to build.

The diversity of Sony’s business is breathtaking. While it does not enjoy the truly frightening reach of the Korean Chaebols, the venerable conglomerate has managed to build a reputation among consumers for quality. This “halo” effect gives all of their operations a sheen of quality and reliability—even those beyond their traditional strengths as a premier electronics manufacturer. However, the reverse is also true. Just as technological excellence in electronic manufacturing gives the brand a positive mindshare in consumers, so too does a mishandled crisis infect a sterling reputation; some consumers are indeed “once bitten twice shy.” The mishandling of brand management quickly turns from an asset to a liability, and reflects poorly on all Sony products across the line. The company already holds a poor reputation among video game enthusiasts for the high profile hack of its PlayStation network. Given the scale of the crisis now enveloping the American movie producing arm, damage control should have been in overdrive from the start, with the uppermost echelons doing what managers do best: managing the crisis.

The surprising inaction from the Japanese parent company makes sense in context. Best to let the American arm handle the fallout, publicly lop a few heads once the dust settles, and carry on as if the throbbing shiner on the side of Sony’s face was “just a wee little stumble early in the morning—honest!” For any manager to handle this crisis would be to accept responsibility for any subsequent damage, even becoming the punching bag for all those slighted egos and damaged reputations. But without a rally point, a steady voice at the helm, with every passing second the Sony brand becomes more closely associated with noxious relationships, poor security, and worse, ineffective leadership in times of crisis.

The truly outstanding leader is one that can successfully navigate a company through a predicament. Conversely, the mark of ineffective leadership is a cycle of inaction and the shirking of responsibility, allowing misfortune to tarnish and infect a brand that took so long to build.

And like a sewer main break, the smell of poor management tends to linger.