July 8th, 2008
Tough at the top
It’s so unfair. You make one mistake in a high profile leadership role and the media are all over you in an instant.
At the end of last week, the new mayor of London Boris Johnson lost his deputy, Ray Lewis, after murky allegations about Mr Lewis’s past suddenly surfaced. Under pressure, Mr Lewis held an emergency press conference, which only seemed to make matters worse. He resigned the next day.
And – ping! – into my email in-box this morning flies a press release from an HR software company, touting its “PeopleChecking” (sic) capabilities, which allow you to make background checks on potential new recruits. The press release is headlined: “ ‘Boris’ bosses could cost UK £2bn”.
It seems that, these days, one strike and you are out. Overnight the mayor has become a “Boris boss” – and this phrase is not intended as a compliment
Will the best people continue to aim for prominent leadership roles when our unforgiving “gotcha” media culture looks only to drag people down?
I only ask.










