You are(n't) what you drive

A few weeks ago, chief executives from the big three automakers went to Washington to ask for their share of bailout money. The $25 billion price tag was not the biggest target of pushback from Congress, the media, nor consumers. It was that the executives got to the meeting by private jet.

Almost overnight, the focal point of the conversation went from “financial crisis” to “out of touch.” And it made the three instant celebrities on a wide variety of blogs… including the Huffington Post.

People wanted to know whether the leadership of these companies really had a grip on the situation. All kinds of questions were flying around: Why should major corporations get billions in aid when families are scraping by? Wouldn’t it have been a nice gesture of their own fiscal restraint if they would have flown commercial (coach) like the rest of us, or even driven one of their own cars?

Implications: My intent is not to write about whether the big three should get aid. Sometime very soon, they probably will… and they probably should, for reasons I won’t go into here. The greater issue behind this story—the one you can use—is the reminder that a company (or its people) cannot simply Talk the Talk. They must Walk the Walk.

If you are asking employees to participate in cost reductions (cutbacks, layoffs, reduction in resources, or other attempts to increase output-per-person), has your leadership demonstrated its willingness to lead by example and share that burden? If you are asking the customer to accept a surcharge, or reduced hours or services, have you also explained steps the company will take to mitigate their inconvenience, and that you’ll return to “normal operations” as soon as possible?

That chief executives have been asking for help during this downturn is not the big story. That they initially expected that sacrifice to be one-sided is what turned into a public relations nightmare. In what ways can your company—or your department—avoid making that same mistake?

Mike Anderson