Hearts & Minds: Corporate psychopathy - how not to fall under its spell

Edward Henry KC for the wronged subpostmasters at the Post Office enquiry put it thus. The Post Office and its lawyers ‘enforced this corporate psychopathy with ingenuity, ruthlessness, disregard for ethical norms and even deceit.’  Corporate psychopathy. What starts as a single point of view, gains wider acceptance and becomes a collective belief, before ratcheting up to zealous conviction. It’s impervious to reason or evidence.

Years ago, the late BA chairman, Lord King was infuriated by the challenge posed by the newcomer Virgin, run by Richard Branson. King, a grand establishment figure, believed Branson could not be playing by the rules. Instead of BA management focusing on improving their own business they obsessed over Branson, launching ‘dirty tricks’ campaigns against him. Their determination to bring down someone who at that stage had only a few aircraft consumed the entire organisation – so that even junior staff were encouraged to rubbish Branson at every turn. It was bizarre and it was wrong. It was corporate psychopathy.

On the frontline in BA’s fight, reporting directly to King, were its senior comms advisors. They were dealing with press enquiries about the new competitor. Internally, they were devising and distributing anti-Branson messaging. They went further, however, and ran investigations to uncover damaging material about the Virgin creator. There wasn’t any but that did not stop them dropping poison into journalists’ ears. In the end, when Branson sued and won, their behaviour was exposed and their reputations tarnished.

How do you avoid being dragged into a similar mire? With difficulty is the answer. But you must, for the sake of your professional standing and wellbeing and that of your colleagues, stakeholders and brand. Because of how the condition takes hold and the sickness it engenders, it’s probable that at some point you will be expected to cross a line, to lie. It’s likely too that your job subsequently will be to cover up.

If you have doubts about the ethics of what you’re being asked to do, raise them and refuse. It maybe that you’ve just dismissed yourself - so be it. Look what occurred at Bell Pottinger. There were those at the top who had doubts about what the agency was doing in South Africa, too late, the entire firm went down. It’s tricky, but because of the position comms occupies, you have an opportunity to stop the cancer from spreading. There’s no denying, it requires nerve. Consider, though, the alternative and remember the Post Office.

Chris Blackhurst is one of the UK’s foremost business journalists. He was previously Editor of The Independent and City Editor of the Evening Standard.