In times like these, this country more than ever needs visionary, courageous CEOs who can keep people focused on the future and give them reason to have faith in their companies.  Yes, it’s been an enormously challenging few weeks, but folks, this is the United States of America.  We survived the Great Depression, fought and liberated countries through two World Wars, and built the greatest economy on the face of the earth.  We just need leaders and all Americans to recognize this for what it is, a crisis of confidence.

One of the reasons I am writing my new book, Motivate Like a CEO (McGraw Hill, January 2009) is because now more than ever, we need leaders to step up and be leaders.  They need to keep people focused on the vision and strategy and and motivate and inspire them to keep moving toward their gaols. 

During this time of economic uncertainty when many people are growing fearful, anxious and depressed, CEOs and leaders need to be a beacon of hope in their companies.  Now is not the time to hide in long meetings with each other.   Leaders need to get out, show their faces, talk to people and reassure investors, the public, even the media.  Leaders need to keep people focused on the future and what they can do right now to keep the economy moving. 

A few CEOs are giving the title a bad name right now, those who caused this crisis should give back their ill-gotten earnings and spend some timein jail if they’ve committed crimes.   

At the same time, we have many great CEOs and leaders in this company who can help lead us out of this mess.  Now is not the time to stop doing business, but to move forward together as one nation, believing in each other and keeping the engines of commerce moving.  This will take courage on the part of every leader.

I was reading an interview with Warren Buffet a few weeks ago on CNBC http://www.cnbc.com/id/27116449 just as the credit crisis began to unfold.  Buffet takes the long view on the market:

“You know, five years from now, ten years from now, we’ll look back on this period and we’ll see that you could have made some extraordinary (stock market) buys. That doesn’t mean it won’t get more extraordinary a week or a month from now. I have no idea what the stock market is going to do next month or six months from now. I do know that the American economy, over a period of time, will do very well, and people who own a piece of it will do well.”

Now is the time when we all must believe in ourselves.  We are a great country, American business is innovative and resilient, and our economy, the strongest in the world.  

Tyler Mathisen of CNBC’s “The Call”  says they are receiving on their late morning program lots of questions about where all the leaders have gone: http://www.cnbc.com/id/27120332/site/14081545

Mathisen says, “When they have tried to speak up and lead, why haven’t they been heard? Maybe it’s because we’re all too rattled to listen. Maybe it’s because no single soul, in business or government, has the clarity of understanding to express fully what we face. Maybe it’s because none of our leaders, in public or private sectors, has the stature, the standing, the voice, the rhetorical power to break through the din.  Maybe it’s because the lawyers or the PR guys have gotten to them and said, “Go on CNBC? Now? Are you nuts?” Or maybe it’s because we’re four weeks from a Presidential election, with a lame duck president and two candidates who, like all candidates, would really rather score political points than speak clearly and sometimes uncomfortably to the people they say they want to lead.

“Whatever the reason, Mathisen says it’s time for America’s leading CEOs — the Fortune 500 guys — to blow past their lawyers and handlers and get their messages to shareholders, customers, employees and the broader public.

“I know they’re worried about Sarbanes Oxley. I know they’re afraid of saying something that could come back to haunt them. And I know that quite a few of them have spoken out, many on our air, and we are grateful to them. Warren Buffett, Wilbur Ross and Mike Jackson of AutoNation come to mind. But more of them need to. Many more.”

CNBC and other networks are trying to get CEOs to step up to the microphone and provide public leadership - but many are indeed avoiding the spotlight.   Companies like Fidelity, Vanguard, T Rowe Price and others  could also help calm fears in the market if they were more visible.

I can understand why CEOs don’t want to be in the hot seat publicly now, but the country needs leaders in every sector, not just financial services, to speak up and reassure the nation.  I hope they are at least meeting with their own employees letting them know we can survive and thrive if we work together.  That is real leadership — and that is what will keep this country from suffering a long, deep, painful recession.  We simply have to reject fear, and start believing in ourselves.

 Print This Post