"Gifted" Politicians - Keep That Out of Business in 2022
The Hulu documentary "Truth
& Lies: Monica and Bill" features a "gifted"
politician whose charisma is still influential. That's Bill Clinton, of
course.
Essentially the series is about how an innate ability to charm, along with a
high dose of robust confidence and spinners as consultants, had so many negative
impacts. Among those was trust in government leadership. But Clinton emerged to
go on to pursue other ventures creating power and wealth.
So much for politics. And more and more of us are weary of engaging in
conversations about the political this or the political that.
In this summer of escalating uncertainty, the issue is if the business world
has become sufficiently wary of those who can cast rhetorical spells? Understatement:
These are challenging times.
At the extreme end had been convicted fraudster Elizabeth Holmes. Her
jaw-jawing about a revolution in healthcare shook loose funds from investors in
her startup Theranos. Yes, they lost that money.
In the middle are the supposed experts such as JPMorgan Chase head Jamie
Dimon. When he speaks, the media outlets pick it up. But isn’t that the kind of
reach what we should filter carefully? Dimon really represents one point
of view, no matter how forcefully presented. Other anointed experts have other
takes on what is and what could be unfolding.
And at the low end is now Tesla leader Elon Musk. His credibility has
tanked. But his pontification continues to be covered.
Of course, social media platforms, which
are being increasingly vilified, intensify the reach of those with
rhetorical gifts.
Everything is cyclical, of course. So, it is not unthinkable that we are
veering back to the business leaders who, well, stay on-point in public
relations. There is a business to run. And that's what their job description
entails.
Not that business can function in isolation.
In this era of ESG (Environmental Social Governance) there are external
realities impinging on all aspects of decision-making and operations. In spring
2020, law firm Paul Weiss created a specialized practice to guide executives
through that complexity. But even with those pressures, it is possible to lead
without sucking up all the oxygen.
Actually, activists pushing on governance issues are demanding more buttoned-down
accountability and internal collaboration and less of the Adam Neuman, ousted
founder of WeWork, high-octane individualist persona. More recently, it had
been the board of directors which,
Bloomberg reports, parted company with the combative chief executive
officer Herbert Diess.
This deflating of ego extends to a search for work, both for jobs and
contract assignments.
I explain to those stuck: “’They’ don’t want your force of personality. They
want to know what you can do for them. And better, faster, and more affordable
than others competing for those opportunities. The age-old request to ‘tell us
about yourself’ has always really meant to put in story form the results you
have achieved for other employers and clients.”
Sustainable influence will, I have a hunch, entail lowering the profile. We
are plum tired of the Man or the Woman In Full. Part of the organizational
effectiveness of Paul Weiss Chairperson Brad
Karp is that he makes it his mission to position and package the firm’s
lawyers, business partners, and the contacts in government as the stars.
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