How the CEO got deluded

摘要

Jeff Bezos is a storyteller. Reading through the collection of his personal musings and shareholder letters, pulled together by biographer Walter Isaacson for the book Invent & Wander, it’s clear the Amazon founder has the ability to talk about anything in a way that would make even the most disengaged colleague sit up and listen. While he’s certainly excellent at it, Bezos is not unique. Perhaps more than ever in a world when we don’t see each other face to face, it falls to the leader to outline the organisational vision, detail the progress of projects and lift everyone’s spirits in hard times. Many of these messages are grounded yet inspirational summaries that pull people together, but Management Today has also seen its fair share that read more like political election speeches - at best bland, at worst slimy. A particular problem that gets the cynics rolling their eyes is talking about the company you wish you had or the situation you wish you were in, in part because you think it’ll be more inspirational and that that’s what people want to hear.