Author Archive
The Most Trusted Name in News is a Fake
Several weeks ago I posted on the life and passing of Walter Cronkite and noted that in the early 70s Mr. Cronkite was identified as the most trusted person in America. I wondered aloud whether we could find any contemporary figure so trusted, much less among members of the news media.
That was intended as a rhetorical question. But in the wake of Mr. Cronkite’s passing, Time magazine conducted a survey to see who fills Mr. Cronkite’s role today: the most trusted network broadcaster.
And the winner is…..
In Memoriam: Walter Cronkite, 1916-2009
Walter Cronkite passed away tonight.
And with him passed a generation’s reference point on what is important and what it means to be an engaged citizen.
Walter Cronkite and the Space Program
I have been thinking about Mr. Cronkite all week, as we approach the 40th anniversary of the moon landing.
Mr. Cronkite’s personal involvement in covering the space program brought it to life for Americans, and gave us confidence that it was worthwhile.
Worth reading: Booz & Company CEO Succession Survey, “Stability in the Storm” by Per-Ola Karlsson and Gary L. Neilson
A Leadership Test
Leaders are judged on how they deal with their most significant challenges.
As American Express CEO Ken Chenault said on the cover of the November, 2007 Fortune, “We have to remember that reputations are won or lost in a crisis.”
Each year the consulting firm Booz & Company studies CEO turnover among the 2,500 largest public companies in the world. Their report, published in Booz’ online magazine Strategy+Business, is worth reading, and provides not merely statistical data and trends, but also insights into the particular leadership challenges facing CEOs today.
The 2008 CEO Succession Survey, published this month, concludes that the financial and economic meltdown that began in the last third of last year is still causing CEO turmoil. Forced CEO turnover remained high in 2008, but those CEOs who kept their jobs aren’t out of the woods yet: (more…)
Rebuilding Trust
Worth Reading: Harvard Business Review, June, 2009, special section: Rebuilding Trust
I’ve been teaching ethics in graduate business and communication programs at New York University for more than 20 years, and every semester we lament the decline of trust.
But this year seems to be worse than most. Trust in US corporations is at an all-time low, 38 percent, according to the 2009 Edelman Trust Barometer. And most other measures of trust in institutions also point to continuing declines.
The June issue of Harvard Business Review takes on the issue of trust with a 25-page special report, Rebuilding Trust. It’s worth reading. The package includes a forceful critique of business school curricula, a 100-year timeline of highlights and lowlights in the public’s trust of business, and a counter-intuitive piece on how despite recent events people may still be trusting too much.
But the real payoff is the first piece in the package, by James O’Toole and Warren Bennis. O’Toole is the Daniels Distinguished Professor of Business Ethics at the University of Denver’s Daniels College of Business, and Bennis is University Professor at the University of Southern California. The two are co-authors (with Daniel Goleman and Patricia Ward Biederman) of Transparency: How Leaders Create a Culture of Candor (Jossey-Bass, 2008).
The special report opens with O’Toole’s and Bennis’ conclusion:
“We won’t be able to rebuild trust in institutions until leaders learn how to communicate honestly — and create organizations where that’s the norm.”
Humility Update: President Obama on the World Stage
Humility is strength.
More than a year ago I began a series on this blog about humility as a leadership attribute. I noted that
A dollop of humility tempers other attributes, and makes a leader even stronger. Humility helps a leader to recognize that maybe – just maybe – he or she might be wrong; that there may be other valid perspectives; that he or she doesn’t have to be the smartest person in every room, at every meeting.
Humility also helps leaders to connect with others up, down, and across the chain of command; to build organizations and cultures that more likely thrive; to understand the perspectives of other stakeholders.
Yesterday at the close of the G-20 Summit in London, President Obama put his leadership in full focus as he demonstrated both confidence and humility on the world stage. It worked.
He gained the confidence of world leaders, including those who had previously been America’s adversaries or who had predicted that the Summit would fail. He even got a rousing ovation from an otherwise skeptical world press corps.
In a press conference closing the Summit, President Obama demonstrated a tone that was a stark contrast to that of his predecessor, and that rallied other world leaders to seek to cooperate with the United States rather than to resist us.
President Obama set the tone before a single question was asked: (more…)
Crisis Management Spotlight: US Airways’ Hudson River Landing
Leadership in a Crisis
A hearty salute to Captain Chesley B. Sullenberger, III, the US Airways pilot whose cool and decisive handling of a breaking crisis prevented a plane crash from becoming a tragedy.
Captain Sullenberger, a former US Air Force fighter pilot, a pilot union safety official, and a sometime plane crash investigator with the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), exhibited exceptional leadership skills when his Airbus 320 aircraft hit a flock of geese when taking off from LaGuardia airport yesterday afternoon.
The geese took out both of his plane’s engines at approximately 3,200 feet as the plane was making a left turn over the Bronx. With no power in his engines, Captain Sullenberger had a choice to make, and very little time to make it. (more…)
That Was The Week That Was
What a week for crises!
Forget about the financial melt-down, the transition to the new president, or any of the really old news.
Last week was one for the record books.
The curtain rose Monday, December 8, on the usual tired old economic meltdown crises, particularly the prospect of an auto bailout (that still hasn’t happened).
Then things got curiouser and curiouser…
Not Available on E-Bay
Tuesday Illinois governor Rod R. Blagojevich was arrested for trying to sell his appointment of President Elect Barack Obama’s vacant senate seat to a high bidder. He’s still governor (as of 3:30 PM Monday, December 15).
Update: Humility, Humiliation, and Self-Inflicted Harm: Illinois Governor Rod R. Blagojevich
‘Nuff said….
Fred
Journalism Isn’t Dying, but It Will Never Be The Same Again – It Will Be Better
First In a Series: The State of Journalism Today
I’ve had a lover’s quarrel with journalism most of my adult life.
As in any lover’s quarrel, I get pretty heated when journalism lets me down. But only because the love burns deep within me.
I so want journalism to thrive; to prosper; to fulfill its stated mission, and to deliver the value it promises. But too often, and seemingly with increasing frequency, journalism fails to live up to its stated ideals.
I’ve made a pretty good living helping people navigate the vagaries of journalism – protecting them from its excesses, helping them capture the best of journalism to mutual advantage when they can. In the process I’ve gotten to know a lot of journalists and to care deeply about their craft. And to lament the deteriorating state of the business.
Today I begin a multi-part look at the state of journalism, its role in our democracy, and the challenges it faces.
My first post is about the future.
The Conventional Wisdom is Wrong
The conventional wisdom is that journalism is dying.
I think the conventional wisdom is wrong.
Journalism isn’t dying, but it is in the throes of a revolution that will transform it – for the better. (more…)
Crisis Management: Thinking Clearly
The Global Financial Market Melt-Down
I’ve been at a loss about whether or what to blog about the financial crisis, for several reasons.
- First, our firm’s largest sector is finance/investments/insurance, and we’ve been up to our eyeballs, on things we can’t talk about.
- Second, the policy prescriptions for solving the problem have become embroiled in the presidential election campaign. We try very hard not to be overtly political in our work, and opining on the policy prescriptions risked getting into the presidential election scrum.
But today there’s a teachable moment, so I’ll pounce.
(more…)