Untitled - Hospitality Maldives

Stung by the response to the three automotive
CEOs flying in and out of Washington in their
private jets, the CEOs are making different
plans for their visit back to Washington this
week.
All three CEOs are driving to Washington in
fuel-efficient hybrid cars. All have announced
plans to sell their corporate aircraft. And
Ford and GM plan to pay their CEO $1 per
year if their companies take any government
money.
What do you make of this What’s your
reaction Is your reaction different to what it
may have been if these cost-saving decisions
were made before the first visit by private
jet
As Andrew O’Keeffe, a noted expert in human
instincts suggests, “Given human instincts,
the answer to the last question will almost
universally be a definite ‘yes’”.
As O’Keeffe explained, “One of our instincts
called ‘first impressions to classify’ is at
work here. Humans make quick judgments
from first impressions and use these quick
judgments to classify experiences. Once
people have classified their opinion, it’s hard
to shift that opinion. We judge subsequent
events by how we have already classified the
information.”
O’Keeffe continued “Given that people have
already judged the CEOs as ‘wasteful’ or
‘greedy’, people’s interpretation of this latest
news will be negative or cynical - ‘I’ll bet they
still get their bonuses’, ‘poor things will be
down to their last billion’, or at best neutral -
‘it’s the least they could do’”.
If the CEOs had driven to Washington in the
first place (or flew by commercial flight) and
taken a serious pay cut, people would more
likely judge them positively as that would be
the first impression.
Further, because they need to overcome the
negative first impression, the automotive
companies need to do more now compared
to what they needed to have done at the
start.
O’Keeffe’s take on this is that “The CEOs
were left in a no-win situation. They had
to reduce their largesse, but will never get
the traction they want from doing so. For
example, it’s hard to recover once people
hear and ‘classify’ what Ford’s CEO said at
the recent Congress Committee hearing.
Asked whether he would consider cutting
his current compensation package of around
$22 million, he answered, ‘I think I’m okay
where I am.’”
As O’Keeffe suggests, “The benefit of
understanding instincts is that we know what
will work and what won’t, and we can then
make intelligent leadership choices.”
Unfortunately, it seems as if these CEOs are
not aware of the human phenomena of “first
impressions to classify”.
Compare these actions with those of the CEO
of Japan Air Lines, Haruka Nishimatsu (whom
I wrote about recently in “20 is the magic
number”). Nishimatsu receives an annual
salary of $90,000.
Yes, that’s right, not $9 million, not even
$900,000, but $90,000. And there are no
bonuses or share options attached. In fact
Nishimatsu gets paid less than his pilots. JAL
is one of the world’s top 10 airlines.
What’s more, he doesn’t receive any executive
perks. In fact, he lines up in the staff canteen
with his fellow workers for lunch each day
and even catches a bus to work!
Nishimatsu clearly understands the “first
impressions to classify” principle. JAL was
going through some very tough times in
2007 when Nishimatsu was appointed CEO.
Jobs were cut. People were asked to take
early retirement. As he commented “The
employees who took early retirement are the
same age as me. I thought I should share
the pain with them. So I changed my salary.”
Now that’s really “walking the talk”.
Before they
stepped into their
private jets to fly
to Washington
and beg for billions
from the public
purse, perhaps
the CEOs of Ford,
GM and Chrysler
should have
realised that first
impressions matter
What’s the message here for CEOs, and in
fact all managers
People do base judgements on their instincts.
These instincts can be understood. The key
for managers in stressful times such as these,
is to ask oneself “What’s causing people the
most pain at the moment” Or, “What are
people most worried about”
Being clear on these concerns, one can then
pre-judge how key decisions will be seen by
asking “What will be the likely response How
will others see this” But most importantly,
“If someone else did this, what would my gut
reaction be”
Bob Selden is the author of the newly published “What To Do When You Become The Boss” – a self help book for new managers. He is currently researching
topics for his new book on teams. Please email your suggestions for inclusion to Bob via http://www.whenyoubecometheboss.com