I received some interesting feedback to Episode 1 on the overwhelming leadership challenges posed to anyone holding the office of the U.S. Presidency. One theme that emerged was how people felt the office was set up to fail, that anyone in the seat was inevitably in a no-win situation due to the conflicting nature of responsibilities piled on to one person. What also emerged was a theme of what traits were necessary to even have a chance to be good at the job.
One particular point of feedback came from a listener who suggested that great leaders always seem to have their finger on the pulse of the country’s mood. This made me consider whether this ability to distill a national mood into a few words or phrases and then speak to it was something inherent in individuals leaders or if it was as skill that could be learned and practiced.
In the past, local and national newspapers and broadcast media seemed to do a good job at capturing the mood of the country in headlines and commentary pieces. Columnists took on the role of a the “every man” or “every woman” and put words and a voice to the thoughts of millions or people. Now, the news organizations and commentary leaders play to such a small audience that they often give up on trying to summarize the broad mood of the country. They slip into inescapable thought bubbles with like minded authors and simply repeat the same tired slogans and phrases over and over again. Media organizations are also far less trusted than in past generations so this “cheat code” source of information for leaders has vanished.
Any leader, once in a high ranking executive position, is immediately cut off from many sources of reliable feedback they may have had before. Fair or unfair, executives get treated differently. Those who work for them tend to limit or hide negative information and overplay anything position. Leaders are often served a distorted vision of the condition of their business or administration. They have to reach beyond their core group of trusted advisors and dig deeper than a few employee conversations or customer focus groups. They must find ways to take in the widest possible variety of view points, data analysis, societal signals and even pop culture trends to keep their finger on the pulse of rapidly evolving norms.
In this episode, I share a few thoughts on this topic and explain why I believe it is getting harder for even the best leaders to keep tracking of changing moods and opinions. The pace of change and the constant flow of news and opinions can result in wild swings of public interest from day to day or week to week. This Axios chart from 2022’s Google search trends gives us a glimpse into how much people’s attention can change in a matter of hours. Natural disasters, concert tickets and the Winter Olympics don’t have much in common and yet, in less than a year’s time, each captured the nation’s attention for a blazing week and demanded a reaction from leaders of countries, companies and community groups…even those with little ability to impact any of these topics. And each passed as quickly as they arrived but left their mark on our collective psyche and view of our place in the world.
As you listen to this week’s show, I hope to hear from you on the two big questions I have for this week:
- Do you agree that one of the most important aspects of leadership is keeping a finger on the pulse of the mood of the people you lead the customers you serve?
- How do you keep up with the mood of your family, community or social group?
E-mail me: info@brianjmatos.com or visit the contact us page on this site to reach me on your favorite social media website.
Stay curious,
Brian J. Matos
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