Page 247 - Executive Warfare

The New Bosses

Whether they work in nonprofits or
businesses or universities, executives now have to do their jobs in an
environment that has changed tremendously in recent years. New media,
the wave of scandals that began with Enron, new technologies, and new
sources of money with new expectations have produced a Chinese menu
of new bosses, each with his or her own agenda.
This is not a complacent group, either. They are aggressive and
demanding. You cannot rise to the top of any organization without rec-
ognizing these bosses, and you have to manage them intelligently.
Let’s take them one by one.

JOURNALISTS—KEEP IT HUMAN IF YOU CAN
As late as 2000, right before the dot-com bubble burst, senior executives
in business walked on water. They were heroes in the press. Now they are
potential trophies to be hunted, and this is not going to change any time
soon.
Soon after the scandals at Enron,
WorldCom, and Tyco had unraveled, I SUBTLE PROBLEMS
guest-hosted the CNBC business show THAT IN THE PAST
Squawk Box. The Wall Street pundits on WOULD HAVE BEEN
the show were all saying, “Well, these HANDLED IN A
scandals are over now. Things are get- BOARDROOM—IF
ting back to normal.” THEY WERE EVEN
My response was, “They’re not over. FOUND—ARE NOW
They are never going to be over.” RESOLVED WITH
I believe I was right. The accounting RAPID FIRINGS
frauds were followed in rapid succession AND PUBLIC
by the Wall Street research scandal; SHAMINGS IN THE
market timing, late trading, and front WALL STREET
running in mutual funds; stock-options JOURNAL.
backdating and other compensation

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