New Adversaries Learn Same Old Lesson
NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- It's by no means a done deal as the compromise on the Bush tax cuts reached Monday may still face bitter opposition from Pelosi-camp Democrats. It is nonetheless a remarkable moment, more so perhaps, than media coverage has suggested.
After all,
the package -- which, among other critical provisions, extends the cuts for two years while maintaining a 13-month federal unemployment benefits
filing option --- was negotiated a mere month after a staggering Republican victory that could have encouraged even greater intransigence on the right or at least a more vociferous insistence on an extension of the cuts beyond the two years stipulated by the current compromise.
Our hope is that the immense human suffering caused by this economy has had a more compelling impact on the negotiating parties than their respective ideological commitments. There have been moments in our historical experience -- certain points during the darkest days of the Great Depression, perhaps, or during the systemic breakdown of 1968 -- when compromise hardly seemed an option. The good news is that the current crisis does not apparently rise to that intractable level.
It thus seems an opportune time to revisit a man whose entire career underscores the healing power of self-transcendence -- not only in politics but also in how we conduct business in a global marketplace. Our discussion with him is excerpted from the recently published book,
The Communicators: Leadership in an Age of Crisis
, by Richard S. Levick and Charles Slack.
Throughout his political career as a U.S. Representative and Senator from Maine, and as a Republican Secretary of Defense in the Democratic Clinton Administration, William S. Cohen developed an exemplary reputation as a leader able to put partisan differences aside in the pursuit interest of greater collective benefits.
"My entry into politics was on a nonpartisan basis," Cohen says. "I ran for City Council in Bangor, Maine. You didn't run with a party label. If you had a pro- or anti-business attitude, they would know whether you were left wing or right wing, but there was no partisanship in terms of organizing your campaign. You were simply 'Cohen for City Council' or 'Cohen for Mayor.' I learned something during that experience in terms of building a consensus to achieve the best results."
By the time he decided to run for Congress in 1972, Cohen was a declared Republican. Yet instead of targeting population centers most likely to support his views, Cohen undertook the monumental task of walking the entire 2nd district - nearly 28,000 square miles and geographically the largest congressional district east of the Mississippi River.
He stayed each night with a different family. "They would host a dinner for three, four, five, or 10 people, and then there would be a discussion until midnight. And I was back on the road the next day at 6 a.m., walking until 8 p.m.
"I particularly made an effort to go into areas known to be hostile or not receptive to Republicans," he adds. Working class Lewiston, then home to shoe factories and textile mills, was known as a Democrat stronghold of predominantly Franco-American voters. Many of the older residents spoke mainly French, so Cohen printed his campaign literature for the city in both French and English. "I wanted to make sure they read my message in the language they were most comfortable in," he says.
"All of my Republican colleagues said don't waste your time, because they're never going to vote Republican," Cohen adds. Yet by overcoming his own party's stereotypes about Democrats, he could overcome the voters' stereotypes about him.
"The people of Lewiston turned out to have strong conservative principles. They were getting caught up in the label that Republicans only care about business, while Democrats only care about people. I said that's not true, Republicans care just as much about people, they just have a different way of generating opportunities," he says. Although he didn't carry Lewiston in his first successful bid for Congress, "I narrowed the deficit in terms of what Republicans had achieved there before, and eventually I started winning Lewiston."
As a leader looking for the best staff and advisor he could find, Cohen says he demanded no party loyalty or ideological bent. "I had no idea what their political affiliation was. I hired the best people I could find, people who would be loyal to me in terms of my mission, my goals for what I wanted to achieve legislatively. I was less concerned about what their political opinions might be. I wanted to know how smart they were and whether they were willing to work with me. I can handle the diversity of their opinions and be better for it."
After leaving the Pentagon in 2001, Cohen launched a corporate advisory firm, The Cohen Group, to help large companies extend their businesses internationally. As Cohen has found, the same principles that helped him gain common ground with adversaries in politics apply directly to the process of companies expanding overseas.
Companies that have the most difficulty achieving success in foreign markets are those that enter the markets out of a desire to expand, or to stay on par with competitors -- but without taking the time and care to understand that country, its cultures, and values.
"You've got to be willing to understand the culture of the country," he says. "What are its needs? They will want to know who you are, why you are here, and what it is that you have to offer them."
Corporate leaders have to be very sensitive to culture and history, so that you're in a position to identify and talk to the right ministers. Who are they, what is their background, what is the economic climate, and what do they hope to achieve by allowing entry into their markets?
Of course, the CEO will delegate many of the required tasks to a competent team. But there's no substituting for deep, personal involvement from the top. "You've got to ask, is this an appropriate mission, what are the barriers, and what price do we have to pay? If we're a public company, how do we rationalize this in such a way that's acceptable to shareholders?
"But the
really tyrannous aspect for a CEO is time," Cohen said. "At a major company, time is real money, and there are so many demands on the leader." The idea of flying off to India for face time may be difficult to contemplate. All the more reason, Cohen points out, for your company to be absolutely certain that this venture is in its long-term interests and essential to its long-term strategy.
"They will want to see you," Cohen says. "They need to have your face associated in their mind's eye with this company, and to know that you are committed to this project, and that they can trust you. That is the key to all of this. Your reputation for honesty, honor, and quality. If any of those are called into question, it's almost impossible to recover."
Here too, Cohen is reminded of how important simple legwork was during his 1972 campaign and his decision to sit down with the people of Lewiston and print his literature in a language they could best understand.