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In this opinion piece, Paul Argenti, a professor of corporate communications at the Tuck School of Business, points to the child abuse scandal at Pennsylvania State University as an example of how corporate leaders shouldn’t cover up the truth to protect a company’s reputation.

Argenti has studied reputation for more than a decade. He suggests that “leaders should make sure that guarding the company’s reputation is among the organization’s highest priorities.” In order to protect corporate reputation, Argenti recommends that leaders:

• Assess reputational risk
• Create an atmosphere of trust
• If a lapse does occur, come clean immediately