When to do politics

“Can I talk to you about something delicate?” Asked the chief executive of a company I chair. My heart sank - was he unhappy? Was there a senior staff issue? What dumb thing had I done? No, turns out, he was in trouble with the UK team. After the death of the Queen, the employees based here had felt very upset that he hadn’t personally emailed each of them to offer deep condolences. I spluttered. I hadn't realized we had so many close friends of Her Majesty in our company. Yet, this anecdote seems to reflect a shift in expectations between leaders and employees over the last few years. And as 2022 draws to a close, when you should step in and voice an opinion about a world event or political cause, become a challenge, how are bosses expected to behave?

There are many examples from this year of leaders either screwing up with their own teams, or with their customers because of mishandling communication around an external political event.

Disney botched reaction their reaction to proposed laws in Florida that would limit classroom discussion of sexual orientation. Employees staged walkouts and social media campaigns to protest the company's silence. Closed theme parks and a barrage of negative press was not what the House of the Mouse wanted.

Or here in the UK, look at the recent kerfuffle over Francis Ingham’s comments in support of Ukraine. As chief executive of the global PR and communications trade group, PCRA, some members, particularly in Russia, felt upset at his unequivocal admonishing of Putin - so much so, a fan of his remarked “I once upset al Qaeda and it was less scary than upsetting the PCRA“. For a trade body interested in controlling the news, I am sure all this media attention has been unwelcome.

Of course, corporate leaders expressing strong views about politics is hardly anything new, think of Brexit. What has changed, I think, is the range of issues you are now expected to have an opinion about and crucially, how much you encourage your employees to be activists at work. Complexity is increased with so many comms channels to stay on top of from LinkedIn to TikTok to Slack.

There seem to me to be a few different models emerging for how to behave. You could go full Elon and express your views on every micro moment or matter at any time of the day or night. With double the number of twitter followers Trump ever had, it's not just his employees who seem to love this style. I guess there may be some advantages, especially if you are prone to insomnia. But the disadvantages surely outweigh any benefits - lawsuits, perpetual distraction and regulatory investigations to name a few.

Perhaps a better example is Netflix. Reed Hastings, chief executive, wrote an extremely well known presentation about the company’s culture in 2009 and it has been updated recently. Reed encourages employees to be involved in high stakes issues and to “question and challenge” so as to “protect artistic freedom” but also recognises they may have to work on content that makes them feel uncomfortable. He is an outspoken Democrat but seems to be trying to tread a line of openness and respect for all views while putting the content the company produces at the heart of everything.

Then there’s the cryptocurrency giant, Coinbase. Earlier this year it was at the center of a media firestorm when its outspoken founder, Brian Armstrong, published a blog post imploring employees to refrain from politics in the workplace. The post, which was touched off by an employee walking out over the company’s refusal to engage on Black Lives Matter, also invited workers to take an exit package if they disagreed with Armstrong’s position. 5% of the company left. The blog was eviscerated in the press. It’s more nuanced than reported.

It says “we won’t debate causes or political candidates internally that are unrelated to work or expect the company to represent our personal beliefs externally…or take on activism outside of our core mission at work. We will fight to get on the same page when we have differences, support each other, and create team cohesion…Put the company goals ahead of our teams or individual goals. Of course, employees should always feel free to advocate around issues of pay, conditions of employment, or violations of law. Hopefully the above sets some clear guidelines”.

I stuck NO TO WAR posters all over the lastminute.com offices when Tony Blair invaded Iraq and the newly founded human rights charity Reprieve, of which I was a first trustee, had its early meetings in our offices. But I am not sure how I would have navigated the volume of issues employees, often rightly, want to talk about now - from racial discrimination to the climate crisis to transgender rights. I feel for leaders who want to speak up about injustice, have empathy and care about their teams, but also want to focus on work, at work. Silence from the top is no longer an option. I am not sure if I agree with Brian’s memo, but at least it's clear and everyone understands the deal. The only thing I wonder is what kind of chastened Christmas party they will be planning, as in my experience that's when the real politics happens.