Leaders have to Communicate

Yesterday I wrote about Ross Garnaut’s briefing at the Adelaide town hall – on the economic effects of climate change - and why this should be front page news in the Murdoch press today.

Well the local version of the Murdoch press is colloquially known as “The Daily Shopper” – its banner name is “The Advertiser”. I imagine you can guess what its prime focus is.

Anyway, the front page today is dedicated to that great intellectual pursuit - “Football” and a beatup about vehicle manufacturing. The Garnaut story is buried on page 8 – well hidden as a subset of a bigger story on the G8 meeting. Not only is it well disguised but it somehow doesn’t get around to mentioning the “risks” to South Australia that were a feature of the Garnaut briefing.

I suppose that if your primary business is selling advertising space to local retailers then the last thing you would want to do is “scare the horses”. But then I wonder who is responsible for informing the local community - if not the local newspaper?

This all reminds me of Lee Iacocca’s 9 commandments of leadership – one of which is:

“Leaders have to COMMUNICATE. I’m not talking about running off at the mouth or spouting sound bites. I’m talking about facing reality and telling the truth. Nobody seems to know how to talk straight anymore. Instead, they spend most of their time trying to convince us that things are not really as bad as they seem. I don’t know if it’s denial or dishonesty, but it can start to drive you crazy after a while. Communication has to start with telling the truth, even when it’s painful.”

Exactly.