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A profound apology

newsroom.uber.com

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Re: A profound apology

#21

Post by hackuser »

Kalanick is also a leader in many communities: in Silicon Valley, in the business community, in the U.S., and worldwide.

Many respond to such issues with more bluster, with defensiveness, with pressure on the weaker party (who then retracts their claims, blames themselves, forgives the powerful person, etc.), with claims that such behavior is appropriate. Unfortunately this behavior is now seen in world leaders.

I think his note is responsible and appropriate. It's good to see.

(I'm no Uber fan; I don't use them due to their treatment of their drivers, and their disrespect for and undermining of local legal authority.)

Re: A profound apology

#22

Post by M_Grey »

unityByFreedom wrote: post #13
M_Grey wrote: post #10

Nothing like a mea culpa dragged from you by the threat of impending lawsuits and a truly vicious turn of public opinion. I'm sure that he's utterly sincere, and this is in no way just an empty reaction to external and internal pressures. Seriously. Right?

I don't think it's so terrible. There are a lot of ways he could have reacted to this video. He hasn't passed the buck and is taking responsibility for his actions, for once.

It's not really "taking responsibility" when it's virtually at gunpoint. Getting caught and subsequent flailing is not the same as "taking responsibility".

Re: A profound apology

#23

Post by throwanem »

unityByFreedom wrote: post #13
M_Grey wrote: post #10

Nothing like a mea culpa dragged from you by the threat of impending lawsuits and a truly vicious turn of public opinion. I'm sure that he's utterly sincere, and this is in no way just an empty reaction to external and internal pressures. Seriously. Right?

I don't think it's so terrible. There are a lot of ways he could have reacted to this video. He hasn't passed the buck and is taking responsibility for his actions, for once.

Do you think that's because he has experienced a genuine change of heart and intends on doing all in his power to repair at least some of his myriad grievous failures in the exercise of his responsibilities?

Or do you think it's because, this time, he's actually in the video, and really has no options beyond a) try to seem sincerely humbled and intent on improving, or b) do literally anything else, and look like such an unbelievably transparent asshole that no one will ever again take even slightly seriously anything he or his company tries to say or do to defuse the ongoing PR shitstorm, to say nothing of actively worsening said shitstorm?

I mean, don't get me wrong, I love that you're trying to give this guy the benefit of the doubt. I just don't see where there's any meaningful doubt left. Either he knows what's been happening on his watch, and he's so negligent in the discharge of his responsibilities that he's failed to avert a catastrophe - or he doesn't know what's been happening on his watch, and he's so arrantly incompetent that he's failed to recognize the possibility that, left unchecked, behavior like that apparently endemic within Uber would guarantee a catastrophe sooner or later. You seem to see some kind of tertium quid here, and I'd be delighted to hear you expand on that.

Re: A profound apology

#25

Post by smoyer »

The problem with SV's propensity for turning twenty-somethings into CXOs is that they are fundamentally NOT mature. Studies have shown that our brains aren't fully mature until we're 25 but it seems to take a long time for the feeling of entitlement you garner before that age to wear off after you've reached the quarter-century mark.

I actually do hope he's sincere - I hope he's really going to get help - and I specifically hope that counseling leads him to eliminate the misogyny that we've all read about the last couple days. I'm not holding my breath that any of this will happen. After all, how would it move the valuation forward? Unfortunately I think that the most likely scenario is that he'll become more of a detriment to the company and the investors will "ease him out".

Re: A profound apology

#26

Post by jamestimmins »

I'm a bit unclear what is so negative about this. While there is an argument that a leader should be able to handle criticism without losing his/her temper, he appears to respond to the driver as an equal with whom he profoundly disagrees. He didn't write the man off or act as though he wasn't worth his time, he simply responded in a frustrated manner to an interaction that he clearly was not in the mood for.

Does being brusque require a public apology?

Re: A profound apology

#27

Post by throwanem »

sjtgraham wrote: post #16

The driver covertly filmed a passenger during a ride he was being paid for and disclosed the footage to a news organisation. This is extremely unethical IMO. Even if this is the CEO of Uber, it is entirely inappropriate, and he IMO is still entitled to an expectation of privacy equally as you or I would when we are paying for the exclusive private hire of a vehicle.

So, welcome to the world, where there's a reason why the phrase "public figure" contains the word public. I tend to agree that, in an ideal world, it wouldn't be that way. But this is hardly an ideal world, and I'm kind of frightened that someone confused on this point should be building a read/write API on bank accounts.

Re: A profound apology

#28

Post by fullshark »

M_Grey wrote: post #10

Nothing like a mea culpa dragged from you by the threat of impending lawsuits and a truly vicious turn of public opinion. I'm sure that he's utterly sincere, and this is in no way just an empty reaction to external and internal pressures. Seriously. Right?

I'm pretty cynical but the language here seems more genuine than what you see in most crisis management firm written non-apology apologies. It's an actual apology for one.

Re: A profound apology

#29

Post by M_Grey »

jamestimmins wrote: post #26

I'm a bit unclear what is so negative about this. While there is an argument that a leader should be able to handle criticism without losing his/her temper, he appears to respond to the driver as an equal with whom he profoundly disagrees. He didn't write the man off or act as though he wasn't worth his time, he simply responded in a frustrated manner to an interaction that he clearly was not in the mood for. Does be…

For me, the issue is all of what he's done (or not done) leading up to this. The time for a fireside chat has long since passed, and it's only happening now because it's literally the least that can be done.
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