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Business Rule #19:
Keep It Real
February 25, 2005
by Marlene Caroselli
Rewinding to last week for a moment…
Michael a-go-go is gone-gone. He apparently never learned there is a time to speak up…and a time to shut up. Donald Trump didn't like how he jeopardized his own position by interrupting Bren Olswanger's attack on Stephanie Myers. If you're going to speak, make your words meaningful. And memorable. And well-timed. And directed outwards. And make them reflect reality. On a side note, I didn't care for Michael Tarshi’s chutzpah at the end when he told The Donald, "If you ever get to Boston, come up and see me sometime.” Michael a go-go, he may be…but Mae West, he’s most certainly not.
The same lack of focus that did him in, did Tara Dowdell in this week as well. Tara was well-intentioned. She was politically correct. She was sensitive. But for all that, she was also a failure. I couldn't fault her for being respectful of the hood. After all, content and context are two sides of the same sales coin.
But her racial roots may have misguided her. Instead of concentrating on the real purpose of the ad, she concentrated on the Harlem Renaissance. And the real purpose of the ad was not ethnic pride but rather sales, sales, sales. The people on the street may have liked the mural artistry but the Sony execs wanted more.
People such as bestselling-author-and-former-CEO Max DePree often say that the leader's job is to define reality. Tara didn't get the point of the task. Nor did she make enough inquiries among her staff to ensure her understanding was the common understanding. The result? Her view of reality was distorted.
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During the boardroom finger pointing, she accused John Gafford and Audrey Evans of failing to explain key elements of the game to her. She just didn't get it. Explaining the game more to her would not have helped. Even playing the game herself might not have. What was needed was an insistence on changing the focus. We heard Trump talk about the importance of listening to others. Tara, apparently, didn't hear him. Even Craig Williams accused her of having a singular perspective: a self-perspective. He criticized her for not considering the views of her teammates.
Now, I mentioned that your words should be "directed outwards," as opposed to directed inwards. Remember when the Sony suits came to look over the works-in-progress? Tara began every sentence with the word "I." She stood with her back to her team—even her body language spoke of her focus on herself—and told the bigwigs about her concept, her decision, her ideas, her vision. Ironically, Tara's "vision" blinded her. So intent was she on promoting the burgeoning new community in Harlem that she forgot to promote the product.
In contrast, let's take a look at Magna's project manager, Alex Thomason. He’s a self-described renaissance man, serving as king of the renaissance people. He acknowledged how much a white boy he is and how utterly clueless he was about hip-hop and rap and what rules on the street. So what did he do? He got his own focus group before the real focus group came in to give their evaluation. He went up to folks standing on the corner, people who knew Harlem and its world, and actually asked for their help. He wanted to know what would appeal to the target demo. So he asked them—and they told him. They supplied the money concept, the fist concept, the "E" idea.
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The leader's job is to define reality.
