Erika Hayes James

Race to the bottom? Hayward vs Obama 

As the Washington Post posed the question about who has been least effective in handling the Gulf Coast oil spill, I say It really does not matter whether President Obama or BP CEO Tony Hayward has been the least effective.  What matters is that we need both men to demonstrate excellent leadership during this crisis, and unfortunately both have fallen short in that regard.  Crises are marked by time constraints, ambiguity, remarkably unusual circumstances, limited or conflicting information, and a need for immediate and decisive action; not to mention anxious stakeholders, naïve observers, and aggressive media who all want information and answers. Given these pressures, the demands of a leader in crisis can be unique and require a different set of abilities than what would typically be expected during non-crisis times.  Both President Obama and Mr. Hayward have demonstrated capability in non-crisis situations, but as evidenced by their performance to date, it does not appear that either of them has what it takes to lead under the intense pressure and scrutiny that crises pose.

But, for all the criticism that Obama has received over his lack of emotion over the spill and his inability to stop the flow of oil, let’s keep in mind two things:  Read the rest of this entry »

Reality TV no replacement for compassion

BP has made numerous missteps in the 5 weeks since the initial explosion that resulted in the massive oil spill.  Transparency, or more accurately the perception of inadequate transparency, is one of those missteps.  Early on executives from BP and Transocean bungled responses to reporters and others regarding the cause and severity of the explosion and subsequent spill, leaving the public to speculate on both accounts.  In the absence of meaningful communication from the sources that are privy to what is happening (in this case BP and Transocean), speculation inevitably led to inaccuracies and exacerbated the blaming game.  Lack of transparency also leads to the assumption that the companies are not doing enough, or enough of the right things, to stop the flow of oil. So their communication and strategy up to this point has been fairly dismal.

Generally speaking transparency during a crisis is a good thing—regardless of how ugly the truth is.  I do not know what motivated the decision to put the ‘spillcam’ on live feed.  Perhaps it was an attempt to change course and become more transparent; or perhaps there were other motivations.  Without knowing what prompted this decision I think it may be a stretch to say that the on-going live ‘spillcam’ feed is actually a strategy.  Rather it comes across as merely a tactic to try to reclaim some of BP’s reputation by allowing the public to see the top kill maneuver.  Doing so merely gives the illusion that they are being more transparent.

Transparency comes in two forms: Read the rest of this entry »

Is BP’s Reputation Sinking?

Earlier this week I attended a conference in which one of the speakers was describing the corporate reputations of various firms and industries.  Her message was largely about how advertising campaigns and, more recently, effective management of social media can tremendously influence the public’s perception – for the better and for the worse.  This conclusion itself was not particularly surprising, but when paired with a particular example, it really got my attention.  The story the speaker shared described the changes in British Petroleum’s (BP) reputation over the years.

You may be familiar with BP’s most recent advertising campaign in which, following a merger with Amoco, the firm was attempting to reinvent itself as a socially conscious company. BP used its acronym as a play on words suggesting that the newly formed company was ‘beyond petroleum’ and provided examples of the various ways in which it was going green. In fact, BP was the first oil company in the industry to suggest a link between energy use and global warming.  Read the rest of this entry »

Not of Their Making

I recently responded to a question posted by the Washington Post’s “On Leadership” series regarding the airline executives symbolic flights to show that air travel was safe after the Icelandic volcano. There are several things to consider here.

Today’s executives are leading through considerable turbulence. For the airline industry, the on-going financial challenges alone are a perfect example. Now add to those long-standing burdens the situation in which thousands of planes were grounded as a result of volcanic activity. The result was lost revenue (to the tune of hundreds of millions of dollars each day that flights were canceled), agitated passengers, and an operational nightmare. Who can prepare for a crisis like this?

Interestingly, a volcano eruption has interfered with air travel before so the situation is not a new one. Consequently, although one cannot predict a crisis like this, there is reason to believe leaders would have systems in place for dealing with an operational disruption of this sort, though perhaps not of this magnitude.

Perhaps a more compelling question is what should an effective leader do in the midst of a crisis? Read the rest of this entry »

Writer’s Block

It has been almost two months since I contributed a new posting to my blog. In the first few weeks I was not overly concerned, but as time continued to pass and one month turned into two I started to panic. And with the panic came my first ever bout of writer’s block. Some might find this surprising given that as an academic fifty percent of my professional life is devoted to writing. I have written a dissertation, a book, numerous articles for the academic and business communities, and now regular blog postings (or at least what used to be regular). One would think that in the past 17 years I would have encountered writer’s block at least once, but in all honesty I have no recollection of ever having trouble writing. I love the creative expression of the task.

So, why now? Read the rest of this entry »