Sean O'Meara Books
Sean O'Meara is a communications consultant and founder of Essential Content, specializing in corporate reputation and crisis management.
Known for: The Apology Impulse: How the Business World Ruined Sorry and Why We Can't Stop Saying It
Books by Sean O'Meara
The Apology Impulse: How the Business World Ruined Sorry and Why We Can't Stop Saying It
Why does the word "sorry" feel so common and yet so hollow? In The Apology Impulse, Cary Cooper and Sean O'Meara explore how apology—once a deeply human act of remorse, accountability, and repair—has been reshaped by corporate culture, media pressure, legal caution, and reputation management. The result is a world in which individuals and organizations apologize constantly, but often without the honesty, responsibility, or change that true reconciliation requires. The book argues that modern business has turned apology into a strategic communication tool. Companies apologize to calm markets, leaders apologize to survive scandals, and public figures apologize to satisfy online outrage. Yet these carefully scripted responses often fail because people are remarkably skilled at detecting insincerity. Cooper and O'Meara show that apology is not just a moral issue but an organizational one, tied to leadership, trust, culture, and power. Cooper brings decades of expertise in organizational psychology, while O'Meara contributes deep experience in corporate communications and crisis reputation. Together, they offer a sharp, timely examination of why we keep saying sorry—and why it so often no longer means what it should.
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When Apology Was Personal and Repairing
A real apology used to be less about image and more about moral repair. Before institutions and brands learned to manage public outrage, apology was rooted in face-to-face relationships. In families, villages, workplaces, and religious communities, saying sorry meant admitting wrongdoing, expressing...
From The Apology Impulse: How the Business World Ruined Sorry and Why We Can't Stop Saying It
How PR Turned Sorry Strategic
The moment apology entered the world of corporate communication, it stopped being purely moral and became strategic. As public relations functions expanded, especially in the late twentieth century, organizations learned to treat language as risk management. Every public statement was assessed for l...
From The Apology Impulse: How the Business World Ruined Sorry and Why We Can't Stop Saying It
Why Performative Apologies Keep Failing
An apology that is designed mainly to be seen will usually fail to be believed. One of the book's central insights is that many modern apologies are performative: they are delivered for audiences, optics, and immediate pressure relief rather than genuine repair. The goal is often to be seen respondi...
From The Apology Impulse: How the Business World Ruined Sorry and Why We Can't Stop Saying It
Psychology Explains Why Sorry Matters
People do not want apologies only because they like politeness. They want them because apologies help restore moral order. Cooper, as an organizational psychologist, helps explain why apology is so emotionally powerful. When someone harms us, we experience more than inconvenience. We feel disrespect...
From The Apology Impulse: How the Business World Ruined Sorry and Why We Can't Stop Saying It
Media Rewards Outrage and Quick Contrition
The digital media environment has dramatically changed both the timing and the meaning of apology. In the past, organizations might have had days to investigate, consult, and respond. Today, outrage can spread globally in minutes, and silence is often interpreted as guilt, arrogance, or incompetence...
From The Apology Impulse: How the Business World Ruined Sorry and Why We Can't Stop Saying It
The Hidden Economics of Saying Sorry
Apologies are often framed as moral acts, but the book emphasizes that they also have economic consequences. In business, every apology sits inside a web of costs: legal liability, compensation, insurance, investor confidence, customer retention, employee morale, and brand value. This is one reason ...
From The Apology Impulse: How the Business World Ruined Sorry and Why We Can't Stop Saying It
About Sean O'Meara
Sean O'Meara is a communications consultant and founder of Essential Content, specializing in corporate reputation and crisis management.
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Sean O'Meara is a communications consultant and founder of Essential Content, specializing in corporate reputation and crisis management.
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