Leadership Leader
He’s just a businessman. But he’s damned good at it. The singular point of light during the financial crisis in 2008-2009 (the only bank not needing TARP funds), Dimon has led JPMorgan Chase through some incredible times. He even bailed out Bear Stearns and scooped up Washington Mutual when they all but died—saving some 30,000 jobs in the process.
When his “London Whale” cost the firm almost $6B, Dimon didn’t hide behind a PR firm, or have some “Bank Spokesman” do his dirty work. Speaking in front of Congressional committee, he simply said, “We made a mistake; I am absolutely responsible. The buck stops with me.” Hard to attack someone who doesn’t provide excuse-ridden fodder.
Dimon never held a revenue-producing role in his career, yet amassed a war chest of leadership acumen. A favorite question of his when eyeing someone for promotion: “Would you want your child to work for that person?”
Jamie Dimon is the real deal. This article are simply a current example. He’s a leader’s leader.
Leadership Milquetoast
Dan Price likely meant well. Believing his own pay unnecessarily dwarfed other employees’, and wanting all of his employees to make a decent living… hell, those are good things, right?!?
Maybe. If done correctly, and if all human behavior is considered. Remember, there are only two sets of people that really embrace change immediately: Those who control it (Price), and those who benefit directly from it (employees making a lot less than $70K). All others need to be sold. Though well-intended, it seems he gave a short shrift to analyzing the impact on all other constituents. For example:
What about employees making just over $70K who have been busting their ass for the past five years? How will they feel if someone makes almost their wage who hasn’t put forth that much effort or delivered equivalent value?
How will customers think—about the firm’s profit margins vis-à-vis costs, about sustainability, about the wages they pay their own employees?
People don’t know our intentions, only our actions. Those actions must prove our intent, not the other way around.
Leadership Laggard
Full disclosure: I’m not a Smisek fan. I don’t like what he did to Continental, and I truly dislike the new United. Ridiculous baggage fees, atrocious ($200) fees to change a flight, poor on-time performance (actually the worst of all major airlines) and degrading frequent-flier benefits to the point that many—including me–no longer see them as an inducement.
In a 60-day window, United’s reservation and traffic system went down for almost two hours, creating utter chaos across the airport system. Their network was hacked and flyer data breached, and they received the worst customer service ranking among all U.S. Airlines, even behind U.S. Air (get your mind wrapped around that). Fortune Magazine kindly ranked them NEXT-to-last, barely edging out Frontier Airlines.
Example: A United transcontinental 747 flight actually ran out of toilet paper, forcing passengers to use cocktail napkins. Are you freakin’ kidding me??
To add insult to injury, Smisek’s face is everywhere (narcissism much?); 2-3 times in the Hemisphere magazine, preflight videos, etc. And now, after having his butt handed to him by every-EVERY—airline in the country for successive quarters, he gets a 40% increase in pay?
Color me stupid, but right now may not be the best time for a half-billion dollar buy-back of United stock. It’s not the money (really, it’s not), it’s the message. Remember from our Dan Price conversation earlier… our intent doesn’t matter, people only see our actions.
Ask people—go ahead, ask them—what their favorite airline is… see how many quickly chime in, “United!” Yeah, not so much. And that’s squarely in Smisek’s lap.
