“The Rumsfeld Way”
By Jeffrey A. Krames
McGraw-Hill, 2002
This review could have been titled “Leaders are a work-in-progress.” It stresses an important point: We must not put a label on someone or someone’s leadership style and leave it at that. But, that sounds very academic.
So, I chose the above title because it zeroes in on an important point: We just don’t dismiss someone over sixty as a “has-been” because there must be a 9/11 event (remember September 11?) that may yet bring out the finest in him.
A philosophy professor once told our class that you can’t describe a person with finality until he is, well, permanently rested. Otherwise, anyone alive is forever in the “process of becoming,” he said, in a classic Heraclitus-style pronouncement.
Donald Rumsfeld, U.S. Secretary of Defense, will turn 70 on July 9. He has just evolved from a backroom operator into a leader whose words are treated as quotable quotes by America’s respected media. And his thinking suddenly acquires a certain strategic edge befitting a 21st century leader confronted with 21st century challenges.
The book, “The Rumsfeld Way,” is sub-titled “Leadership Wisdom of a Battle-Hardened Maverick.” But, after reading the book – and, yes, picking up some tips on strategy and execution along the way – you come away with something that warms the heart of people who are sixty and above: Hindi pa sila laos (closest translation: They are not yet has-beens).
And when you are a cocky thirtyish manager or a sober-minded forty-something executive, you would realize that every experience that adds a line to your curriculum vitae (CV), even those failures you omit in the same CV, count. Later, you will summon these all up to inspire your organization with a strategic direction refined to perfection. Or with a word of wisdom which provides room for all-important nuances and calibrated responses that escape brash young professionals.
Rumsfeld was not a mediocre leader at all. A Princeton University scholar, he went on to become staff assistant, congressman, White House bureaucrat, ambassador to NATO, chief of staff, corporate CEO a couple of times, Secretary of Defense a few times, special envoy of various American Presidents and one-time seeker of the U.S. Presidential nomination. Inspite of all these, media categorized him as a “backroom operator” and master of the labyrinthine power corridors of the White House and the Capitol. Hardly a flattering reputation.
The book quotes Henry Kissinger to stress this point: “I think we are dealing with Rumsfeld now at a different stage of his life. In the 70s he was at the beginning of his political career. Now he is beyond further ambition. But I thought he was a formidable man then, and he’s an outstanding leader now.”
Was there a new Rumsfeld, following a dramatic conversion? Or did the quintessential Rumsfeld, winnowed through years of slow but steady achievement, emerge at that defining moment on September 11 when terrorists attacked the World Trade Center? How did he respond?
The book lifts a quote from The Economist: “He (Rumsfeld) had done what soldiers have to do: stand fasty when the world explodes around you. He had led by example.”
Rumsfeld, like maybe a quiet bureaucrat across your cubicle, might have been grossly underestimated. We know better now. He was being prepared for something greater. And when that time came, he was ready.
Listen to the once cold warrior who spoke (after February 11) with words that warm the heart: “The strength that matters most is not the strength of arms, but the strength of character; character expressed in service to something larger than ourselves.” He was standing in the midst of the ash and ruins in New York.
Interesting are the assessments on Rumsfeld by his fellow leaders. Robert Hartmann, chief of staff for then Vice President Gerald Ford, said of the Defense Secretary:
“Fortune often favors those that have the rare gift of being in the right place at the right time. Even rarer, however, is the knack of being somewhere else. Donald Rumsfeld possessed both.” The story has it that when the Watergate Scandal rocked the Nixon Administration, Rumsfeld was conveniently in Brussels with an assignment in Pentagon.
Rumsfeld is not your idea of Everyman, the guy next door. He is our idea of a leader, taking positions we didn’t agree on and distrusting him for his ideology. Suddenly, he takes a position we do embrace, and we welcome him as the leader of this century. And then, when you review his record, steer clear of ideological differences – you note a dedication to a mission at hand and you see valuable gems on leadership.
This book, while giving us a glimpse of a newly-minted leader who is now the darling of the American press, is also a rich trove of, yes, leadership wisdom. Either way, you are not short-changed. As for Mr. Rumsfeld, we won’t dare make assessments with finality. It is enough to say that he is America’s man of the hour.
Sunday, June 30, 2002
Sunday, June 16, 2002
‘Hand-me-down’ ideas on crisis handling not enough
“Risk Issues and Crisis Management”
By Michael Regester and Judy Larkin
Kogan Page Limited, 2002 (Second Edition)
What is the price of a ruined reputation? For an individual, where reputation equals honor, a tarnished reputation is a “forever thing.” For a corporation, it means the end of “forever” – meaning, cutting short a corporate existence keyed toward perpetuity.
More to the point, damage to corporate image due to a failure in risk management or a mishandling of a crisis runs into hundreds of millions and billions of pesos or dollars. Exxon lost $13 billion due to the oil spill of Exxon Valdez. Union Carbide’s “reputational damage” was estimated at $527 billion due to the Bhopal incident in India. The collapse of the Barings Bank due to a failure in issues management cost $900 million.
These figures represent clean up costs, days of lost production, product boycotts, product recalls, falling markets and share prices, escalating compensation and brand reputational damage.
“There is a growing litany of corporate and government mismanagement of issues which pose a threat to that most important of all assets – reputation.” Thus point out the authors of the book “Risk Issues and Crisis Management.” Are the authors exaggerating? No. They cite a survey made by the Association of Insurance and Risk Managers in 2000 -- among the top 250 companies in the United Kingdom – and thus conclude that “damage to reputation was the biggest business risk they faced.”
The book looks at the organization in the 21st century and tells us that it is vulnerable to many pressures. It must, therefore, “understand and respond to our rapidly shifting values, rising expectations, demands for public consultation and an increasingly intrusive news media.”
What the authors say are not alien to us here in this country. The issue of purchased power adjustment (PPA), for example, has presented a “risk issue” to both the state power firm and the largest electric power distributor in the country.
Have their respective reputations been hurt? For one, there is a brewing boycott of their services. Second, embedded resentment has re-surfaced. And news media have picked it up due to its populist appeal, getting a little help from a “populist” President earning brownie points from the “masa.”
Years before, a multinational softdrink company was plunged into widespread protests because of a failed numbers promo. After arrests, prolonged bad publicity, organized protest actions and numerous courts cases – the company suffered a shrinking market share due to reputational damage.
Companies do not have to be helpless when crisis strikes or a controversial issue against them hogs the headlines. There are strategies for “preparedness.”
This book provides analysis and advice in two main parts: Risk Issues Management and Crisis Management. Sounds simple enough?
Yes, but not simplistic. The authors, drawing from a rich experience in these fields begin with definitions (to make sure authors and readers are on the same wave length), bring us in major parts of the world for up-to-date cases, and provide analysis. The last part is the most valuable contribution of this book.
Since this book is written by English public relations and advocacy practitioners, it somehow introduces us to European thinking – and thus makes for a refreshing change. It also results in greater confidence among practitioners that they are in touch with the world’s best practices.
This one does not read like a textbook. It sounds like practitioners “talking shop” over a cup of steaming coffee – exchanging ideas, trading experiences, sharing statistics. Then you come away wiser – and readier to tackle issue-related and crisis-in-the-making problems.
The discussion on the “issue lifecycle” is instructive. American experts call it the “path of a controversial issue.” Reality-based tips on handling a crisis – from sparing the CEO to avoiding legal pitfalls; from expressing regrets to making “ex-gratia payments”; and avoiding blind faith in lawyers to having a gut-feel – are generously given in the book.
In these parts, issues management and crisis handling tactics and strategies have been cut-and-dried and tired (not tried) and tested. But the diversity of problems and the complexity of 21st century society require from practitioners – and clients – a larger or newer “frame” that enable them to identify potential or real problems – and come up with new – because target-specific – strategies.
Hand-me-down ideas from older hands don’t suffice. The old experts lived in a different era. You need books like this one – which is equivalent to attending a refresher course on preserving and expanding your “reputational capital” in Europe. Then, after reading it, test it in the real world – with a newfound confidence.
By Michael Regester and Judy Larkin
Kogan Page Limited, 2002 (Second Edition)
What is the price of a ruined reputation? For an individual, where reputation equals honor, a tarnished reputation is a “forever thing.” For a corporation, it means the end of “forever” – meaning, cutting short a corporate existence keyed toward perpetuity.
More to the point, damage to corporate image due to a failure in risk management or a mishandling of a crisis runs into hundreds of millions and billions of pesos or dollars. Exxon lost $13 billion due to the oil spill of Exxon Valdez. Union Carbide’s “reputational damage” was estimated at $527 billion due to the Bhopal incident in India. The collapse of the Barings Bank due to a failure in issues management cost $900 million.
These figures represent clean up costs, days of lost production, product boycotts, product recalls, falling markets and share prices, escalating compensation and brand reputational damage.
“There is a growing litany of corporate and government mismanagement of issues which pose a threat to that most important of all assets – reputation.” Thus point out the authors of the book “Risk Issues and Crisis Management.” Are the authors exaggerating? No. They cite a survey made by the Association of Insurance and Risk Managers in 2000 -- among the top 250 companies in the United Kingdom – and thus conclude that “damage to reputation was the biggest business risk they faced.”
The book looks at the organization in the 21st century and tells us that it is vulnerable to many pressures. It must, therefore, “understand and respond to our rapidly shifting values, rising expectations, demands for public consultation and an increasingly intrusive news media.”
What the authors say are not alien to us here in this country. The issue of purchased power adjustment (PPA), for example, has presented a “risk issue” to both the state power firm and the largest electric power distributor in the country.
Have their respective reputations been hurt? For one, there is a brewing boycott of their services. Second, embedded resentment has re-surfaced. And news media have picked it up due to its populist appeal, getting a little help from a “populist” President earning brownie points from the “masa.”
Years before, a multinational softdrink company was plunged into widespread protests because of a failed numbers promo. After arrests, prolonged bad publicity, organized protest actions and numerous courts cases – the company suffered a shrinking market share due to reputational damage.
Companies do not have to be helpless when crisis strikes or a controversial issue against them hogs the headlines. There are strategies for “preparedness.”
This book provides analysis and advice in two main parts: Risk Issues Management and Crisis Management. Sounds simple enough?
Yes, but not simplistic. The authors, drawing from a rich experience in these fields begin with definitions (to make sure authors and readers are on the same wave length), bring us in major parts of the world for up-to-date cases, and provide analysis. The last part is the most valuable contribution of this book.
Since this book is written by English public relations and advocacy practitioners, it somehow introduces us to European thinking – and thus makes for a refreshing change. It also results in greater confidence among practitioners that they are in touch with the world’s best practices.
This one does not read like a textbook. It sounds like practitioners “talking shop” over a cup of steaming coffee – exchanging ideas, trading experiences, sharing statistics. Then you come away wiser – and readier to tackle issue-related and crisis-in-the-making problems.
The discussion on the “issue lifecycle” is instructive. American experts call it the “path of a controversial issue.” Reality-based tips on handling a crisis – from sparing the CEO to avoiding legal pitfalls; from expressing regrets to making “ex-gratia payments”; and avoiding blind faith in lawyers to having a gut-feel – are generously given in the book.
In these parts, issues management and crisis handling tactics and strategies have been cut-and-dried and tired (not tried) and tested. But the diversity of problems and the complexity of 21st century society require from practitioners – and clients – a larger or newer “frame” that enable them to identify potential or real problems – and come up with new – because target-specific – strategies.
Hand-me-down ideas from older hands don’t suffice. The old experts lived in a different era. You need books like this one – which is equivalent to attending a refresher course on preserving and expanding your “reputational capital” in Europe. Then, after reading it, test it in the real world – with a newfound confidence.
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