Published: Apri 30, 2008
ETHICS 101: Here's Your Hat
Revolving doors and conflicts of interest are not exactly unknown in government and politics. But it’s been a while since an apparent conflict flared as publicly as the exit of Mark Penn as a top adviser to the Hillary Clinton campaign.
The embarrassing flap underscored perfectly -- if painfully -- the importance of senior advisers and managers leading by example when it comes to instilling ethical principles among the troops.
Although top campaign aides often take a temporary leave of absence from their day jobs, Penn continued to wear his professional hat as president and CEO of Burson-Marsteller Worldwide, the global public relations firm, while advising the presidential candidate.
It turned out that a $300,000 Burson-Penn client, the government of Colombia, supports a proposed bilateral trade agreement with the United States – which Hillary Clinton opposes. When Penn met with his Colombian client, Clinton fired him. When Penn publicly called the meeting “an error in judgment,” the Colombians fired him, too.
Penn reportedly continues to advise Clinton from the sidelines while running Burson’s affairs.
“I think that the error he made was with respect to both the client and the campaign, frankly, because the client got negative publicity, which you never want to do for a client, and it caused the campaign another political problem,” said a spokesman for Burson’s parent company.
According to the spokesman, Penn’s meeting was simply a courtesy during which the trade agreement was not discussed.
“The good news,” said an internal memo to Burson employees, “is that while Mark will continue to advise the Clintons and the campaign, this change will afford him more time to do what he does best — provide great advice and direction to some of our largest clients.”