Every issue of the Executive Communication Report that I write three days a week—and to which you should subscribe, because unlike everything else on earth, it is both useful and free—leads off with a series of items under the heading, “What Leaders Are Saying, and How They’re Sounding.”
As most of my readers are corporate executive communication professionals, most of the leaders I’m quoting are CEOs. Frequently a reader will point out that I have quoted a CEO sounding dumb. I point out back, “Do you see where the heading says, ‘and how they’re sounding’? That’s supposed to subtly let you know to prick your ears up and judge these utterances for yourself. Otherwise, the heading would read, “All the Awesome Stuff Leaders Are Saying, and Couldn’t You Just Thank God for Leadership Like This?”
I like my subtle heading, because it puts the onus on you to decide—and keeps it off me to tell you, “Check out this numb-nuts quote from the CEO of the world’s biggest bank!” For instance, yesterday in ECR, this appeared under What Leaders Are Saying, and How They’re Sounding:
In the annual shareholders’ letter he issued Monday, JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon lauded the “OODA loop” the company’s leaders use to manage the giant bank, Fortune reports. Dimon wrote: “The military, which often operates in extreme intensity of life and death and in the fog and uncertainty of war, uses the term ‘OODA loop’ (observe, orient, decide, act—repeat), a strategic process of constant review, analysis, decision making, and action. One cannot overemphasize the importance of observation and a full assessment—the failure to do so leads to some of the greatest mistakes, not only in war but also in business and government.” Added Dimon: “you have to understand your competitors, their distribution, their economics, their innovations, and their strengths and weaknesses.”
What I didn’t say because I don’t want to comment on every (or even most) of the items I share, was: I don’t mean to be reductive, but I believe that translates to: Here at JPMorgan Chase, management believes strongly in the importance of keeping our heads out of our pneumatic tubes.
Couldn’t you just thank God for leadership like this?