Making the Case for Investments in People (07/22/2025)

July 22, 2025

Happy Tuesday!

Lots of great stuff happening here at The Kevin Eikenberry Group – I hope the same is true for you. Along with the webinar coming up next week (scroll down for the details), I will be live twice later this week, and I hope you will join me:

I hope you can join us this week – and even more so for the webinar next week. If you are in a role where you are thinking about developing the talent of our team and organization, you won’t want to miss it.

Make it a great Tuesday and remember …

You are Remarkable!

Kevin 😊

Apologies and PR aren’t the Same Thing

After the now infamous Kiss-Cam viral moment last week, perhaps predictably, someone issued a fake apology from then-Astronomer CEO Andy Byron. (It you want to read it, you can find it here).

While acknowledging it is fake, one of the reasons it gained so much traction itself is that it seemed plausible - it was written in standard PR language and fashion. I am not a communications specialist, and I am not disparaging the profession. I am saying there is a difference between a press release and an apology.

Unfortunately, too many people apologize in the same sort of PR-way in real life.

If you want to apologize (which starts with truly feeling apologetic), make sure your conversation includes:

  • Taking full responsibility

  • Acknowledging how your actions impacted the other person or group

  • Expressing genuine regret

  • Committing to make things right

  • Inviting further conversation

The fake release had few of these which is one reason it rings so hollow. But fake or not, remember that if you want to effectively apologize, don’t look to a press release as your template.

Making the Case for Investments in People

I’ve been writing here and elsewhere for over 20 years mostly for audiences of leaders and prospective leaders, and those who are responsible for developing leaders in organizations. And when talking to those responsible for developing leaders, all too often I hear that budgets for training, learning and development are limited or non-existent.

The fact is, organizations are always investing in something, it just isn’t always in their people. So rather than bemoaning that fact, I want to help you think about why we invest (in anything) first, before we shake our heads as to why employees aren’t at the top of that investment list.

Thanks for reading. Please reply at any time with questions or feedback for our team.

When you’re ready, here are a few ways we can help:

  1. Work with me 1:1: Book a coaching or strategy session to help you achieve your goals for 2025 and beyond!

  2. Book me for your next keynote or event: Not just “another keynote”, this is a message that inspires, engages and accelerates you, your team and organization to success!

  3. Courses & workshops: check out our wide-array of learning opportunities - live & interactive workshops, micro and on-demand solutions and so much more.