Learning About Leadership

In the aftermath of the Lac-Mégantic train crash, people have been talking about the appearance by Edward Burkhardt, CEO of the railway involved.  Pretty much everyone is agreeing it was somewhere between "unhelpful" and "disasterous."

This is something that I find interesting about business.  We tend to mythologise business leaders, seeing them as transformative leaders akin to politicians.  But the more I've learned about business, the more I find that many people high on the corporate ladder are not the inspiring, charismatic type.  Some are more about management, numbers and efficiency.  It's possible to get to the CEO's office with public speaking skills that would embarrass a candidate for junior-high treasurer.

And I think that's the case here.  I doubt Burkhardt is as hard-hearted as he comes across, he just seemed to express everything in the wrong way.  My guess is that:

• He missed the Business School class on how to handle tragedies
• As with many business leaders, he spends so much time in the business world, that he's not used to the idea that you can't use money as a catch-all explanation.