Impound Reynolds' passport!
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Posted Thu 25 February 2010 @ 7:43 a.m. by Ernie Newman
The government should impound Paul Reynolds' passport so he can't leave New Zealand.
Telecom has had a week from hell. A service like XT is intrinsic to this country's economy. Failure impacts the nation, not just the company. The scale of the problem is enormous and it should never have happened.
But let's park that obvious fact for a moment, and look at Telecom’s response.
Reynolds' handling of the crisis this week has been magnificent. He's fronted this issue at every step. He's been direct and honest. He's shown very genuine empathy in talking about the inconvenience, distress and cost the issues have imposed on customers. He hasn't ducked the questions - he's answered, fully and from the heart, every time.
That’s not just my view. TUANZ members I’ve bumped into this week, and people who’ve stopped me in the street, have said the same.
I shudder to think of the obfuscation, bluster and denial we would have seen from some other high-profile local and international CEOs faced with such a challenge, or their PR people. As I've said before on this blog, Reynolds is a man of real integrity. He's exactly the leader the people in Telecom, and their customers, need to steer them through the times ahead.
I'm sure there must have been moments this week when he contemplated following Steve Lowe and Frank Mount down the gangway. He mustn't! His response to this week's crisis illustrates clearly why he is the man Telecom needs to lead it through.
Stick around, Paul. No matter how the apportionment of blame may eventually fall, you have shown yourself to be a superb leader and role model in a crisis. Customers are on your side as you sort out the issues, and work to make XT a network as good or better than we all expected.
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