By Steve Adubato, PhD
Former New York Governor Eliot Spitzer’s downfall offers many lessons in leadership. One of the most significant is missed by many, which involved Spitzer’s “in-your-face,” unnecessarily confrontational and combative communication style. The way Spitzer communicated wasn’t responsible for his failure, but it did contribute to the large number of enemies who lined up against him.
Communication style matters a lot. As a hard charging Attorney General, Spitzer had a take-no-prisoners approach. For him, the job was black and white. Get the “bad guys.” His approach to communicating offered few shades of gray, little compromising, not much nuance and not much place for empathy. When he became governor, in a now infamous exchange, Spitzer told New York State Assembly Minority Leader James Tedisco; “Listen, I'm a f*#&ing steamroller and I'll roll over you and anybody else.” How’s that for direct communication?
Q: What’s wrong with a CEO or any leader taking a bold, confident communication approach and publicly stating his agenda?
A: Bold and confident is fine, but contentious and combative are another story. There is no reason to put a big bull’s-eye on your back as a leader because of how you communicate. Your goal is to have as few enemies as possible while still being effective in your professional arena. When you declare war on day one, regardless of the marketplace you are in, people are forced to decide whether they are with you or against you.
Q: But what if as a leader you are holding most, if not all, of the cards? What is wrong with using that power?
A: Power is a funny thing. The more you use it as a leader and/or communicator, the less effective you are likely to be. Winds shift. The ground moves. Markets fluctuate. If in this process, you’ve built up little if any good will, you are not likely to get much benefit of the doubt when things do turn and you are not on top. The enemies you have created may otherwise have been in your corner. That’s the problem when you talk like a tough guy. It’s okay under a limited set of circumstances, but in most businesses, rarely do those conditions stay the same.
Q: As a leader don’t you sometimes have to pull the trigger or draw a line in the sand?
A: Of course you have to make tough decisions and yes, as a communicator, people must know you are serious in what you are trying to accomplish. However, the key is to do it with the least amount of bloodshed. Further, the more you can accomplish creating a win-win environment where others don’t wind up as road kill, the more success and longevity you are likely to have. How you win in business or any professional arena matters as much as whether you win at all. In “The Godfather”, my favorite line is, “Keep your friends close, but your enemies closer.” There is something to that. There is no reason to poke your finger in your enemy’s eye just to prove a point.
Q: Eliot Spitzer’s leadership and communication style worked when he was Attorney General, but were a problem for him as governor. How do you explain that?
A: In a law environment, military or paramilitary operation, hierarchy matters a great deal. As a prosecutor, you are holding virtually all the cards, however, as CEO or the chief executive of a public entity, a lot of those cards are held by other key stakeholders. If you don’t know how to play nice in the sandbox with the other kids, they are likely to band together and kick a ton of sand in your eye when you least expect it.
Have you ever communicated like a bully at work or, had to deal with a bully? Write to me at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.