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Several years ago, a conversation about credit ratings prompted a friendly argument with an acquaintance. My friend, an idealist who hated seeing how the rich and powerful took advantage of those with lower incomes, argued that credit was a force for exploitation. While Ive certainly seen exploitative lending practicesIve been a financial writer for 15 years, after allits equally clear that credit is necessary for ordinary people to get ahead. Without access to credit, things like home ownership would never be possible for anyone who wasnt already rich. Of course, my friends point also stands. Lending can often be exploitative, leading to cycles of debt and entrenched poverty. But we live in a world where having a credit score is just about mandatory. Since we cant opt out of this wildly imperfect system, the best thing we can do is understand its pitfalls and potential benefitsand minimize the harm it does. Busybodies from the start: The history of credit bureaus Credit reporting got its start in the 19th century when retailers would share financial information with each other about their customers. If youve ever seen small retailers post photos of customers who are not allowed to pay by check, you can understand how this kind of sharing of information could be a helpful tool for protecting a narrow profit margin. Unfortunately, early credit reporting also had quite a bit of prejudice built in. By the 1960s, credit reporting agencies not only reported financial information, but also any lifestyles or conduct that could be gleaned from newspapers or other public sources. This meant individuals were being denied financial opportunities based on their sexual orientation, alcohol use, or any other behaviors that may have put them in the public eye. What was even more infuriating was that these credit reporting agencies were not required to disclose the confidential information they had gathered about each individual. So if you were denied a mortgage or a job because of what was in your credit files, you had no right to see what was blocking you from the opportunity. Privacy, please: The Fair Credit Reporting Act To rectify the opacity of early 20th century credit reporting, Congress passed the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) in 1970. The FCRA was the first official data privacy law, and through years of tweaking, the law has granted the following rights to consumers regarding their credit reports: You have the right to receive a free copy of your credit report You have the right to receive notification if you are denied credit or employment based on information in your credit report You have to the right to dispute errors on your credit report The credit bureaus must investigate such disputes and correct inaccurate information within 30 days The credit bureaus must remove outdated information on your credit report after a certain length of timetypically seven to ten years The credit bureaus can be held liable for knowingly reporting inaccurate or outdated information An employer must get written permission from you before accessing your credit report You have the right to freeze your credit The credit bureaus must give you the option to exclude yourself from lists for unsolicited insurance and credit offers The FCRA is an elegant piece of legislation that has grown with the changes to the credit reporting industry. It offers consumers a number of vital privacy protections and rights that we take for granted today. (Credit bureaus of yore used to look at marriages and arrests rather than your verifiable financial behavior, which is much more likely to correlate with your likelihood of paying back a loan.) That said, these rights still put the onus on the consumer to assert them. You must still work against the giant machinery that is the credit reporting industry if there is a problem with your credit report. And unfortunately, that is more likely to happen than not. Incompetent stalkers: Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion The three largest credit bureaus in the United States are Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion. Each of these ginormous companies have a file on any consumer with a digital financial presence. In other words, if youve ever used a credit card, debit card, online payment system, digital payment system, or any other non-cash method of payment, then youre probably in a file somewhere in one of these companys vaults. The credit bureaus gather information about you from any financial institution you may interact with, including your bank, credit card issuer, mortgage lender, loan servicer, credit union, or collection agency. This may not exactly be stalker-like behaviorbut it does feel weird that our economy is reliant on third party companies gathering financial intel about consumers without their consent. Like, why are you so obsessed with us? Youd think that the credit bureaus would at least get the facts right if theyre going to invade consumers financial privacy. But in 2024, a Consumer Reports study found that 44% of consumers had an error on their credit report. Whats more worrisome, 27% of respondents found a financial error that would affect their ability to qualify for a loan. Sure, we have the right to dispute these errors. But the dispute process is a pain the neck none of us wants to take onand an insulting cherry on top of the creepy stalker sundae. Exercise your credit rights The credit industry in America reminds me of Winston Churchills words about government: Democracy is the worst form of government except for all those other forms that have been tried. The way we have set up credit in America is intrusive and potentially predatory and puts the onus on the consumer when the giant credit bureaus have institutional power. But its better than any other alternatives that have been triedbecause of the legislation that protects our rights as consumers. Which means we should all be execising those rights as early and as often as possible. Its good for us! So even though looking at your credit report sounds about as fun as stabbing yourself in the eye with a rusty spoon, consider the following credit-related tasks as an all-American to-do list that will simultaneously protect your finances. (No need to tackle all these in one go. Take your time with your patriotic chores). Request your credit report You used to only be allowed one peek at your report per year, but you can now get a weekly online report from each of the three major credit bureaus. But the old system is preserved in the name of the only official site where you can request your credit report for free as required by federal law: annualcreditreport.com Remember, there are three credit bureaus, and you need to look at the credit reports from each one. While the information is usually about the same, there can be some discrepancies, and its important to know what differences may lurk between your credit reports. Dispute any errors you find Unfortunately, theres a good chance youll find something inaccurate in one or more of your credit reports. There are a number of common errors, including: Typos, like incorrect addresses, phone numbers, or misspelled names Mistaken identity, where someone with a similar name was misidentified as you Identity theft Incorrect account reporting, like an open account listed as closed or vice versa Incorrect account ownership, where an authorized person is listed as an account owner Wrong dates for last payment, date of account opening, or date of first delinquency Errors in reporting an account as delinquent Same debts listed more than once Data management errors, like an account with an incorrect current balance or credit limit If you find an error, you need to dispute it with the specific credit bureau the error appears on. Heres how to file disputes with each of the three credit bureaus: Equifax: equifax.com/personal/credit-report-services/credit-dispute/ Experian: experian.com/help/dispute-credit/ TransUnion: transunion.com/credit-disputes/dispute-your-credit Under Federal law, the credit bureau must investigate and correct the error within 30 days. Freeze your credit Freezing your credit is one of the most useful credit rights in the modern world. When your credit is frozen, no onenot even youcan open new credit accounts in your name. Which means that even if identity thieves get hold of your identifying information, they cant do a darn thing with it. A credit freeze lasts indefinitely, so theres no need to remember to renew, although you will need to thaw it the next time you want to open a new line of credit. To freeze your credit with each of the bureaus, simply navigate to their websites and follow the prompts: Equifax: equifax.com/personal/credit-report-services Experian: experian.com/help Transunion: transunion.com/credit-help Opt out of unsolicited insurance and credit offers The FCRA gives consumers the right to opt out of unsolicited offers for insurance and credit. If youd like to exercise that right (and why not?!), navigate to optoutprescreen.com and follow the instructions to stop the phone calls and mail solicitationsand enjoy the peace that ensues. Always look on the bright side of credit As infuriating as our credit system may be, we still have power and rights as consumers. Exercising those rights will ensure that we keep that power.
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E-Commerce
Research shows employees who engage in unethical behaviorsurprisinglyare not new to their organizations. They have been there for a considerable amount of time, typically at least six years, and have risen through their companies. Worse, the longer they have been with their organizations, the greater the financial and reputational damage when unethical behavior occurs. And though we might think of corporate misconduct as C-suite malfeasance, unethical behavior can occur at all levelsand many offenders have a steady career path. It begs the question: could an ethical assessment have been designed during their career progression to have detected someone being more subject to ethical risk before they were promoted? While there are numerous resources available to help gauge someones ethics during the initial hiring process, in our experience in executive search and career coaching (Ellie) and ethics consulting (Richard), we’ve seen that such screening is at best “one and done.” Once the onboarding process is completed, it’s vanishingly rare for companies to evaluate employees’ ethics as part of the promotion process. We believe this is a mistake and a missed opportunity. By following these four key strategies, you can design an ethical assessment for mid- to senior-level leaders, to ensure they dont disregard ethics as their careers advancebecause, as the research behind numerous scandals demonstrates, ethics isn’t a fixed state but can be dramatically impacted by changed context and professional circumstances. Yet, with planning and design work, you can help keep ethics and career advancement alignedwhile protecting your company from reputational or regulatory trouble. 1. Explore the candidate’s previous ethical track record Dont miss vital data from your candidates career so far. Liaise with your HR Director to review any relevant and accessible information. This could include: Hiring documentation, like reference checks, interviews, and assessment notes Performance review documentation 360-degree feedback reports Disciplinary or grievance processes Look for anything that could point to ethical gray areas that you would like to explore further, including formal complaints raised about the individual, incomplete reference checks, as well as borderline scores on values or ethics at the interview stage. Its not uncommon for individuals to move around large organizations with numerous personnel touchpoints. Therefore, its crucial to reach out to individuals who have worked alongside your candidate to solicit feedback on their experiences. A great way to do this is to gather anonymous feedback. Ideally, this would include a cross-section of employees at different levels and functions. Questions could include: Would you have any ethical or behavioral concerns about them stepping into a role with more responsibility? How do they role model the values of the organization? Did they ever take an ethical decision that might have been at the cost of commercial success? Would you feel comfortable speaking to them when confronting an ethical dilemma? 2. Consider what new ethical challenges might arise Its critical to identify new risks and ethical challenges that might arise in a post-promotion role that are not present in the current one. In our work, we have encountered a number of such changes, including: Geography: Different regions have different customs and practices that might pressure test ones ethics. For example, Richard was promoted to the VP of International Sales, from a U.S. role, moving from a low-profile role for corruption risk to high-risk regions, bringing a cascade of ethical challenges that did not exist in his prior role. Increased pressure and ethical impact: Your candidate will likely be accountable for team targets, as opposed to individual ones, contributing to increased earnings potential, along with the risks of not meeting financial goals and targets. Employees under such high financial stress are eleven times more likely to jeopardize regulatory compliance. There are a number of additional factors that might contribute to unhealthy stress that can result in these ethical lapses, including our current environment of economic and social volatility. 3. Ask candidates to complete an ethical self-reflection as a discussion point in the promotion interview Simply asking your candidate “are you ethical” wont lead to any valuable insights; however, a self-reflection can prompt an honest introspection about what matters most when it comes to ethical conduct. This can be a simple online template for your candidate to complete and share with you in advance of the interview. Here are some questions that might prompt your candidate to think deeply about their ethics and values: Can you give an example of when your values or ethics were challenged in the past and how that impacted your decision-making? Do you think your future role will challenge your values and ethics differently from your current role? If so, how will you manage these ethical challenges? Can you tell us about someone you respect for their ethics and values-based leadership, and why? As you move to the more formal part of the promotion process, ensure the interview process integrates these responses to ethical challenges as well as other performance measures for the new role. Probe any responses from their self-reflection that warrant further discussion. Ian Johnston, a chief people officer with decades of experience, favors scenario-based questions, exploring a moral dilemma the individual had encountered. Example interview questions could include: Tell me about a time you made an unpopular decision because it was the right thing to do. How did you communicate this? Would you do anything differently? Whats the biggest ethical error youve made, and how did you manage it? What did you learn? Have you ever found yourself in a situation where you thought a colleague misrepresented something? What did you do about it? What do ou believe you will need to do differently in the future to navigate ethical challenges with greater responsibility? 4. Analyze what the data is telling you You now have a lot of ethical information about your candidate, so its time to review the data you have gathered from the above steps. Ensure a rigorous focus on how they achieved results and how they handled ethical setbacks. When analyzing how the candidate will perform ethically in a new role, look for positive indicators and red flags. While these will differ depending on the organization and the role, positive indicators would include that the candidate had a positive track record of speaking up, calling out unethical behavior, and was a good listener when ethical issues were brought to their attention. For example, one of Richards clients had a recently promoted Sales VP give an “ethical award” at a Sales Kickoff Conference to someone on her team who spoke up and disrupted a large order due to the unethical conduct of a third party involved in the transaction. Negative ethical indicators or “red flags” might include an unwillingness to talk about how they achieved results, ambiguous replies during the interview, and/or a lack of awareness of what had not worked with respect to ethics and integrity, with no suggestions as to what could be improved. While past behavior may not be an entirely precise predictor of future ethical conduct, its a strong signal as to how your candidate will respond to ethical challenges that are ahead. If there are any “red flags,” ask yourself what these are telling you. As Jamie Browne, managing director of Leonid, a corporate governance hiring specialist firm, cautioned, A candidate who is fixed on results, targets, or efficiency but with little reference to values or ethics can be problematic. Someone who does this may rationalize unethical shortcuts to what they might perceive as the necessities of business growth, with or without integrity. If your candidate gets that promotion, its easy to move on to the work at hand, but dont forget to keep ethics front of mind, and dont give a long ethical “leash” to your new leader. For example, you might want to schedule regular “check-ins” to make sure that your newly promoted employee is comfortable in their new role, and to give them the opportunity to share any ethical or commercial challenges. You might even consider pairing them with an ethical mentorsomeone who has experienced a similar move that understands the realities and can support their development in the new role By following these strategies and designing an ethical assessment as part of the promotion process, companies can ensure they’re promoting candidates who can handle new ethical pressures that may come with increased or changed responsibilitiesand protect themselves from costly scandals and breaches that can bring down both employees and corporations.
Category:
E-Commerce
This summer, Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman became co-owners of Australia’s three-time champion SailGP team. Days earlier, Anne Hathaway joined a female-led consortium purchasing Italy’s team for around $45 million. Kylian Mbappé has bought into France’s squad, while Sebastian Vettel, Deontay Wilder, and DeAndre Hopkins have each acquired stakes in teams. So, what’s drawing A-list celebrities away from traditional sports properties and toward a sailing league that’s only been around for six years? The answer lies in how SailGP has cracked a code that eluded the sport for centuries. What Russell Coutts, the league’s CEO and cofounder, described as once being white triangles on a blue background racing far away from shore now looks more like Formula 1 on water. [Photo: SailGP] Flying boats, record speeds Forget everything you think you know about sailboats. SailGP’s F50 catamarans fly above the water on hydrofoilsunderwater wings that lift the hulls completely out of the waterat speeds exceeding 100 kilometers per hour. That’s 62 mph. On water. Powered only by wind. Most powerboats can’t even keep up. The boats don’t use traditional sails. Instead, the 50-foot boats have rigid wings built like airplane wings turned vertical, standing up to 80 feet tall. “This produces what we, in engineering terms, call a lift coefficient that is three times higher than a thin membrane sail,” Coutts explains. Translation: They catch wind more efficiently than conventional sails, generating massive thrust even in light conditions. When a boat moves forward, it creates its own windjust like how your hand feels resistance when you stick it out a car window. By angling these high-efficiency wings correctly, F50s use both the actual wind and the wind they create through their own speed to go more than three times faster than the wind itself. [Photo: SailGP] Nine-minute races and $80 tickets Traditional sailing races stretched for hours with boats barely visible from shore. SailGP races last nine to 12 minutes and feature four races per day: short, intense bursts with enough time between heats for a bathroom break and a cocktail. The shorter race format enables something traditional sailing never could: close-to-shore competition in iconic harbors. Events happen in places like Sydney Harbor, New York Harbor, and San Francisco Bay. Stadium seating sells out weeks in advance. Auckland and Portsmouth each drew 25,000 ticketed fans. Tickets start at $80 for waterfront grandstand seatsaccessible pricing that brings the sport to a far broader audience than the yacht club exclusivity of traditional sailing. Fans can watch from grandstands or rent a boat and watch from the water. It’s part race, part waterfront festival. The spectacle translates to screens, too. Augmented reality graphics superimposed on the water create a visible playing field with boundaries, like the yard markers on a football field. Before this, even dedicated sailing fans struggled to follow races on TV. Now, even the most casual fan can understand who’s winning and why. Since launching in 2019, viewership has reached 200 million per season across 212 territories globally. CBS attracted 1.78 million viewers for its Spain Sail Grand Prix broadcastthe largest audience for a sailing event in the U.S. in 30 yearsexceeding what some regular-season NHL games pull. More recently, on November 23, CBS’s broadcast of The Race to Abu Dhabi drew 3.47 million viewers, breaking the previous U.S. viewership record for a sailing event established by the 1992 America’s Cup on ABC. “We were pleasantly surprised to find that the appeal to the racing fan was identical to the appeal to the avid sailing fan,” Coutts recalls. “We’ve got confidence now that the product stands up.” [Photo: SailGP] From money pit to money maker In 2019, Coutts and Oracle cofounder Larry Ellison launched SailGP with one deceptively simple innovation: a regular season. For decades, professional sailing meant wealthy enthusiasts funding expensive hobbies with no return. The America’s Cupsailing’s premier event for 174 yearsexemplified the broken model. Imagine if the Super Bowl happened once every four years with no regular season in between. No predictable schedule. No way for athletes to plan or build a career. That’s been the America’s Cup. Sponsors couldn’t justify the investment. Broadcasters couldn’t build programming around it. Teams couldn’t make it profitable. “It sounds so simple, doesn’t it?” says Jimmy Spithill, CEO and co-owner of the Red Bull Italy SailGP Team. “But whether you’re an athlete, a sponsor, or a broadcasterif it wasn’t a regular season, how could you plan?” Upon founding, Ellison committed to funding the league for five years. But the transformation happened faster than anyone expected. Teams that couldn’t be sold in 2019 now command $60 to $70 million valuations. Four of the league&8217;s 12 teams are already profitablea milestone that took the WNBA 13 years to achieve and that Wrexham, Reynolds’ soccer team, still hasn’t reached. In traditional sailing, teams burned millions on secret boat development that never stopped. That game is over. The business model prevents this money pit problem. All teams race identical boats. All performance data is completely sharedboat telemetry, race strategies, even engineering insights. When the league develops an upgradenew hydrofoils, better control systemsevery team gets it simultaneously. There is no buying wins. “Everyone’s on the same equipment,” Spithill says. “So no one has a technical advantage.” [Photo: SailGP] The investment thesis that sold Hollywood When Gian Luca Passi de Preposulo evaluated investing in the Red Bull Italy team, he saw something bigger than sailing. The Italian luxury brand executive who spent years at Giorgio Armani and Moncler recognized a familiar pattern. “I saw a growing sport with an incredible heritage because of the America’s Cup,” he says. “Millions of fans following this through generations, but no competition on a weekly or monthly base.” Passi de Preposulo recognized the pattern: a legacy sport with millions of fans but no consistent competition to followexactly the gap SailGP’s regular season format filled. But he also saw that the business model offers investment advantages impossible in more mature leagues. National team scarcityone per country, capped at around 20 teams totalcreates inherent value. Buying a $60 million SailGP team gives you a significantly larger ownership stake and more governance rights than putting that same money into a $5 billion NFL franchise. Men and women race together on the same boatsunusual in professional sportsdoubling the target audience and appealing to the increasing pool of investors backing women’s sports. Teams operate on standard sports economics: sponsorship, broadcast revenue shares, and licensing. But only six years in, most revenue streams remain undeveloped. The four profitable teams achieved this through sponsorship alone. Cash cows like broadcast rights and licensing represent pure upside. Team valuations reflect this trajectory. “In season three, you could have bought a team for $20 million,” Coutts says. “Now you’re not going to buy a team for under $70.” [Photo: SailGP] Scaling SailGP From six teams and five events in 2019, SailGP now runs 12 teams across 12 events. The target: 20-plus events annually, matching Formula 1’s 24. Teams 13 and 14 are already sold for the 2026 and 2027 seasons, and the league projects over $200 million in annual revenue by season’s end, which culminates this weekend with the Grand Final in Abu Dhabi, where the top three teams will compete for a $2 million prize. Rolex signed a 10-year title sponsorship, renaming the competition the Rolex SailGP Championship. Its by far the biggest partnership in sailing, Coutts says. Amazon, Tommy Hilfiger, and T-Mobile have also joined as team sponsors. Events now generate an average $26.2 million in economic impact for host citiesquadruple the $6.8 million from Season 1, according to SailGP. For context, Formula 1 races generate $200 to $400 million. The celebrity investment impact is measurable. Market research firm YouGov tracks “buzz scores”a measure of whether people are hearing positive or negative things about a brand. In Australia, SailGP scores jumped from 22.0 to 26.3 in two weeks following the Reynolds and Jackman announcement. France saw similar lifts after Mbappé’s investment. For Reynolds, SailGP represents another portfolio expansion. His Maximum Effort Investments backs Wrexham AFC, Club Necaxa, La Equidad, and Alpine F1. His Wrexham successtransforming an obscure Welsh soccer club through marketing genius and storytellingoffers a template as SailGP looks to continue its growth, both in investment and global audience. “The fact that we can get that sort of [celebrity] involvement in one of the teams is amazing,” Coutts says. “And they’ll have some fun with it too, which is what it’s all about.”
Category:
E-Commerce
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