Bell Pottinger

An office building containing the London headquarters of the PR company Bell Pottinger is seen behind an entrance to an underground train station in London, September 5, 2017.

A former Bell Pottinger employee explains why good people do bad things

Why good people do bad things for people like the Guptas.

Bell Pottinger

An office building containing the London headquarters of the PR company Bell Pottinger is seen behind an entrance to an underground train station in London, September 5, 2017.

In the wake of the Bell Pottinger fallout, everyone has wanted a scapegoat. Victoria Geoghegan carried the brunt of it all, but many people have been wonder how the hell what they were doing for the Guptas was allowed to carry on for so long.

Well, in a piece for the Telegraph, a former employee of the embattled PR firm shed some light. And it’s hardly surprising.

Sirin Kale, who now writes for a variety of publications, didn’t mince her words. Let’s take a look at some of the highlights…

Anyone who has ever worked in a client facing environment can probably relate to this one.

Working in a firm like Bell Pottinger becomes more stressful the higher up you get. Partners need to bring in new business to justify their salaries, and they need to over-service their most expensive, demanding clients. In a culture where executives are constantly measured against financial targets, the pressure to keep lucrative families like the Guptas happy becomes paramount – and scruples were quietly dropped.

But, remember that what happened with Bell Pottinger is hardly unique. As the article notes.

Bell Pottinger wasn’t exceptional, and this probably isn’t even the worst thing they did. It’s important to remember that the only reason Bell Pottinger was undone was because of the work of the South African opposition party to expose them. Without that, Bell Pottinger would still be free to represent the Oscar Pistoriuses of this world. And they’d be in good company. Similarly reprehensible practices are widespread at firms across London.

I’ve heard firsthand from a former lobbying industry executive (at a different firm) of repressive Middle Eastern governments personally bribing British journalists to look favourably on their activities; of “war rooms” pumping out made-up blogs and social media postings spreading fake news. Spray luminol across London’s major PR houses, and you’ll see similar blood spatters.

The article also says that apparently there were people speaking out against what was going on with Okabay, but they were overruled. And, most of the time, it probably went something like this:

You’re an inexperienced account executive, or a harried partner with a new business target and pressure from above. You’re not a savvy geopolitical operator and barely understand South African politics. You’re used to skirting close to the line and, above all, to obeying orders — the culture of deference in firms at Bell Pottinger is paramount.

And this pretty much sums it up.

Good people did bad things because authority figures in a deference-heavy culture told them it was the right thing to do.

Maybe there’s a lesson in there for all of those who have allowed state capture to go on for so long…