In yesterday’s blog I wrote about the importance of metaphor in shaping how people think of ideas. I also predicted that our President would make use of the power of metaphor in his speech last night. This of course was an easy bet. Most leaders understand the power of metaphor and use it in nearly every speech.

What I didn’t mention was that the news media will always key in more on the metaphor than on the content of the speech. They make for good sound bytes. Think of Reagan’s, “Shiny City on a Hill.” Sure enough the media did just that. Here’s a photo of today’s Wall Street Journal.

The pulled quote reads, “If we waited one more day, Benghazi, a city nearly the size of
Charlotte, could suffer a massacre that would have reverberated across the region and stained the conscience of the world.”

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Metaphors Matter. This was the headline of a small but significant report recently published in the Wall Street Journal.

The article focuses on a Stanford University study that demonstrates the power of metaphor in shaping thought in communication.  The study was recently cited in a new book entitled, “Metaphors We Think With:  The Role of Metaphor in Reasoning,” by Paul H. Thibodeau and Lera Boroditsky.

The study queried students. They were asked to read two reports about a crime in a particular city and recommend solutions. In the first report, crime was described as a, “wild beast preying on the city.”  The second report was identical except that it began with a different metaphor.  It described crime as a, “virus infecting the city.”

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In this economy of sea change and uncharted waters, you need to understand the role your legacy knowledge should take.

Recently the Wall Street Journal featured a front-page story on the new CEO of General Motors. The article pointed out that the new CEO is not an auto industry insider, his leadership style is a bit brash, and that this type of person might just be what it takes to turn the company around.

Obviously, this was a PR-led piece fed to the media by GM. After the bashing GM has taken by government leaders intent on justifying the bailout money, GM’s goal was to get the public (read, potential new investors in the upcoming IPO) to believe that GM will run better than ever under new, different leadership. Implied in the piece is that old time industry insiders lack an ability to see things as they are and drive sustainable change. This is not a new phenomenon, nor is it always the case, but quite often, it is true.

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Scrambling for good leaders? Consider leadership development, not just leadership training.

As the Wall Street Journal reported yesterday (Aug. 2, 2010), companies are finding themselves short on leadership talent as they begin to rebound from the economic downturn, and are scrambling to implement training programs.
While HR Managers dust off the files from the training programs they put on hold 18-24 months ago, the sharp ones will see this revamp as a great opportunity to consider whether their leadership programs are teaching the company’s bright stars not just what to do, but how to do it.

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Recent headlines have shown us that really tough economic times are an equal opportunity event, with the propensity to take out the 800-pound gorilla almost as easily as it can the fairly younger or smaller companies. In fact, sometimes the bigger and more evolved companies have a harder time making the necessary changes in time that would allow them to survive and evolve through the crisis themselves. The good news is that the Seven Missing Links that ensure successful corporate evolution (see my last blog) can be applied by any size organization. It is critical, however, that the evolution or crisis plan is understood and embraced by those who will have to implement it.

While all of the missing links rely on people to make changes and transition, it should be noted that the last link is far from being considered the least link, and should not be underestimated:

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I have the opportunity to talk with dozens of company and organizational leaders every week.  Lately I’ve been noticing a theme of denial that I haven’t seen the likes of before.  People are tending to tout and rely on strengths that no longer serve them like they used to as they completely underestimate the costs of their weaknesses.

“Individually and organizationally, we know the value of our strengths much more than we know the costs of our weaknesses.”  — Joe Caruso

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