618: Leadership Through the Complexity of Current Events, with Adi Ignatius

Coaching for Leaders

2min Snip

00:00

Summary

Transcript

Episode notes

I find that I've gone back and forth on this just in the last few years. Some of the early research says it doesn't hurt you to do that. It can actually help you. You know, I wouldn't advocate that people weighed into these issues because they think it might improve their bottom line. But you got to think about what the potential risk is. And then I guess what the potential upside is.

Adi Ignatius: Harvard Business Review Adi Ignatius is Editor in Chief of the Harvard Business Review Group, where he oversees the editorial activities of Harvard Business Review, hbr.org, and HBR’s book-publishing unit. Prior to joining Harvard Business Review in 2009, he was the No. 2 editor at TIME. He is the editor of two books: President Obama: The Path to the White House and Prisoner of the State: The Secret Diaries of Premier Zhao Ziyang. Both made The New York Times Bestseller List. Adi lived and worked for nearly 20 years overseas. He was Editor of Time’s Asian edition and earlier served as Beijing Bureau Chief and Moscow Bureau Chief for The Wall Street Journal. He is also host of the HBR Channel. It is the 100th anniversary of Harvard Business Review. Should leaders and organizations take a stand on current events, politics, or causes? Adi and I discuss this tough question in detail. While the answer will be different for every leader, we invite you to begin thinking about how you might approach this in your work. Key Points The traditional advice of “Don’t talk about politics and religion” is still the norm in some places, but increasingly leaders and being more vocal. Silence used to be the default. Silence now many send a message that leaders and organizations don't intend to convey. While every leader needs to decide how they will navigate this, beware your feelings of certainty. Resources Mentioned Harvard Business Review Related Episodes Start With Why, with Simon Sinek (episode 223) Handling a Difficult Stakeholder, with Nick Timiraos (episode 581) How to Begin Difficult Conversations About Race, with Kwame Christian (episode 594) Discover More Activate your free membership for full access to the entire library of interviews since 2011, searchable by topic. To accelerate your learning, uncover more inside Coaching for Leaders Plus.