Should corporate leaders speak out on social and political issues? And if they decide to do so, what’s the best approach?

On this episode of The Culture Kit, hosts Jenny Chatman and Sameer Srivastava chat with Matt Kohut, a leadership communications expert, about his new book Speaking Out: The New Rules of Business Leadership Communications. 

Jenny, Sameer, and Matt dig into historical examples of corporations and politics colliding, the potential pros and cons of deciding to weigh in on social issues, and strategies for business leaders to evaluate risk and maintain accountability when deciding to speak out. 

This episode’s question came from Laszlo Bock, co-founder of Humu and former Senior Vice President of People Operations at Google. 

3 Main Takeaways from Jenny & Sameer’s interview with Matt Kohut:

1. Should you take a position at all? This should always be the first step before deciding what the position is or how to communicate it.
2. Mission relevance: What are your organization’s values and how will taking a stance on an issue align with those values?
3. Evaluate risk: How might this position potentially backfire? Hold a pre-mortem meeting to help determine risk.

Show Links:

• Speaking Out: The New Rules of Business Leadership Communications by Matthew Kohut (October 2024)
• Compelling People: The Hidden Qualities That Make Us Influential by Matthew Kohut and John Neffinger
• “When to Talk Politics in Business: Theory and Experimental Evidence of Stakeholder Responses to CEO Political Activism.” Working paper by Tommaso Bondi, Vanessa Burbano, and Fabrizio Dell’Acqua. Cornell Tech and SC Johnson School of Management, Cornell University, New York, 2023.
• Full Episode Transcript

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Learn more about the podcast and the Berkeley Center for Workplace Culture and Innovation at www.haas.org/culture-kit.

*The Culture Kit with Jenny & Sameer is a production of UC Berkeley's Haas School of Business and the Berkeley Center for Workplace Culture and Innovation. It is produced by University FM.*