Law And More

"The Hero's Farewell" - From Jack Welch to David Lat

Power is heady.

The misfit Puritans made business one of the most powerful institutions in the new land. Actually it became the nation's shadow religion.

The economy they put together from scratch become the world's top dog. 

So, from the get-go, the leaders in business - often called "chief executive officers" - found it difficult to let go of that power when the job ended.

They still do.

Aging media tycoon Rupert Murdoch and investment genius Warren Buffett are not putting out there any signs of leaving.

Also, former head of legal media site Abovethelaw - David Lat - still has at least one foot in that sandbox. Maybe more.

Lat is now an employee at legal executive search firm Lateral Link.  The title is "managing director" but that's not being the number-one any more. 

The transition from number-one to an employee, by its very nature, represents a tricky crossroads.  Here is my analysis of some of that. 

"The Hero's Farewell, by management expert Jeffrey Sonnenfeld, captures that struggle. If former leaders don't navigate the shift just right, the implications are grim.

Their overall career could blow up.

More to the point, the business could flounder.

One has to wonder if Jack Welch had inflicted that darkness on himself and GE. He seemed to be unable to let go. GE has been in severe distress. The legacy of both is in play.

Constituencies with interests invested in those businesses in which the number-one departs might create a five-year rule.

That is, even though the former leaders might own stock (and a lot of it) they are banned from all official input for 60 months.

That includes no seat on the board.

Speaking to the media about the company is forbidden.

And, no organizing a stockholder movement to regain power.

As the platitude screams: We live in interesting times. How former business leaders manage their farewell is at the top of the list of fascinations. 

Full Disclosure: Recently I had a negative experience with Lateral Link.

Exactly the right tone and content for all your communications. Complimentary consultation janegenova374@gmail.com.

The Media Innovator's Dilemma - From Ted Turner to David Lat

They build something that disrupts the media industry. 

The innovation works.

The experience is totally heady, with great influence. After all, it's said that media - not government, business or even technology - is the most powerful force in civilization. 

Then they sell that media outlet or simply move on to try out another role. What could play out next could be labeled The Media Innovator's Dilemma. 

For creator of 24/7 cable television news - Ted Turner - there was no next after he sold CNN.  He became just another businessperson whose former outsized presence went poof. Publicly, he indicated he regretted the sale. From then on, Turner seemed in mourning. And for a while, CNN's ratings plummeted. 

In the niche - legal media - the innovator had been creator of Abovehthelaw (ATL) David Lat. That began in 2006.

Officially he has left that role and become what is really a salesperson's job at headhunting firm Lateral Link. Its playing field is the legal sector.

Of course, that also constitutes a shift from being the boss to being an employee.

So far, Lat seems not to be able to totally let go of the legacy. He posts on ATL. It's in connection with his current headhunting  role, leveraging the aura of the innovation in hopes of developing new business. But, still, a clean break might have signaled amazing confidence in what is next.

As an employee, Lat won't be in charge. Instead he had to get the hang of fitting in to someone else's organizational culture. That's challenging.

In more rigid times in business, corporate employers hesitated hiring former entrepreneurs. They were wary that the transition might be impossible. That was the time of the Organizational Man (and Woman).

Since then, of course, careers paths have become less linear. More founders are parachuting into organizational functions. 

At best Lat could become a thought leader in the world of career strategies in the legal industry.

That's different than being a presence in media.

In his current role, his success depends on body count: How many placements he can make. Yeah, it's business, not mission of changing how news and commentary are positioned and packaged. The organization measures success in terms of that business metric. Either you make the sale or you don't make the sale. The game is binary. 

Lat could succeed at being a headhunter. He could adjust to employee status. He could also make more money than he had in media. But gone with his choice to give up ATL is the unique influence he had.

Media is the loudest voice in just about every context. That "loudest voice" is how journalist Gabriel Sherman summed up Fox News founder Roger Ailes. Here that book can be ordered from Amazon. According to some reports, after being ousted from Fox, Ailes was conferring with deep pockets such as Peter Thiel, who funded "Hogan v. Gawker," to fund launching a competitor to Fox. No, Ailes didn't plan to get a job in someone else's media outlet. 

Also, there is the issue if ATL, like CNN, will shift into a downward trajectory after the founder leaves. Part of the innovator's genius is a good head for the business of media. Are those business smarts embedded in ATL? The ATL DNA was Lat's genetic engineering. 

My hunch is that Lat could have moderate success in the headhunting space. But it's the media innovator's dilemma not to be able to make peace with the decline in influence.

Meanwhile, it would be shrewd reputation management for Lat to let go of ATL, in rebranding himself as a leader in executive search. Turner seemed incapable of that kind of reimagining his professional identity.

As for ATL, the niche of legal media seems ripe for another innovation. It could or could not come from the folks at ATL. A severe downturn can create demand for a fresh kind of analysis and presentation of issues. 

Full Disclosure: Since the late 1980s, I have been an entrepreneur. There I found extreme success versus organizational life. Recently I had a negative experience with Lateral Link. 

Exactly the right tone and content for all your communications. Complimentary consultation janegenova374@gmail.com.

 

Tony Robbins - Will BuzzFeed Investigation Do to Him What The New Yorker Ones Did to Harvey Weinstein, Les Moonves?

Law firm for celebrities Lavely & Singer denies it all. Among its clients is Bill Cosby. 

The "it" is the allegation of inappropriate behavior by mega guru Tony Robbins. That ranges from alleged verbal abuse of audience members to sexual misconduct with employees.

But BuzzFeed stands by its findings of an investigation which included leaked recordings, internal documents, and interviews. The focus of all that has been the alleged secret conduct of self-help coach Robbins.

Unlike mental health professionals, coaches in that niche do not require licensing. And Robbins' empire is closely guarded from media. His coaching presentations aren't allowed to be recorded.  Here is that BuzzFeed expose. 

Immediately one wonders if the BuzzFeed investigation will derail the career of Robbins, just like The New Yorker ones by Ronan Farrow did the professional life of Harry Weinstein and Les Moonves. Here is one of Farrow's articles on Weinstein, dated October 2017.

In addition, will these accusations prompt the push to license all those who declare themselves "coaches?" In some sophisticated circles, life coaches have replaced psychotherapists. 

The accusations are, well, colorful. Allegedly Robbins had his followers, as a tutorial, simulate sexual release. He berated those who claimed they were victims of rape. It was contended he would have his employees take notes in his apartment while he was naked, as in exiting the shower. Five women have made those kinds of sexual harassment claims. 

If these allegations can be proven or if Robbins caves and admits them, that would be no surprise. Power can unhinge judgment. Those with it might assume they can "get away" with unethical and illegal actions. They figure the victims will be too frightened to snitch. 

This story certainly has legs. The immediate issue is: Will it deliver a blow right now to Robbins' business interests? The #MeToo movement still has momentum. 

Exactly the right tone and content for all your communications. Complimentary consultation janegenova374@gmail.com.

 

No Attention-Deficit Disorder Here - Format of 12-Part Series Bounces Back

At Law.com, Leigh Jones and Gina Passarella announce a 12-part series on mental health issues in all aspects of the legal sector. Here you can read all about it.

And, at Lateral Link, senior director and career coach Cordell Parvin presented the first of 12 installments on rainmaking. Here is the first.

What is obvious is that businesses are betting against the global epidemic of attention-deficit disorder.

The publishing enterprise of Law.com and the recruiting firm of Lateral Link are assuming they can keep and hold attention at a time when distraction is the norm.

Well, they may be onto something - actually a new trend: paying attention.

Societies around the world might be learning that it is smart to focus. After all, digital is no longer new.

It's no longer ultra cool to align to its frantic pace. 

Also, plenty of mistakes have been made. So many of us recall missing out on the professional opportunity because we didn't invest ourselves into editing and proofreading a document. Those who did got the job, assignment, or promotion.

In addition, hyper is so out. Calm is back in. On the Lateral Link's rainmaking series it is Parvin's relaxed tone which is the pull force. I, for one, took in every word.

One more thing: With the world economy slowing and the stock market so volatile, we are worried. We know we have to think critically about financial matters - for ourselves. We have learned not to trust the supposed experts. In fact, some of us have a hardened fantasy of doing the equivalent of the old tar and feather ritual and running them off the radar. 

Prediction: There will be more 12-part formats in all sectors. Without focusing, we cannot survive and scale.

Exactly the right tone and content for all your communications. Complimentary consultation janegenova374@gmail.com.

 

Crime and Punishment - Let's Re-Think All That

From the get-go in America, early social systems leveraged the power of public shaming.

The Puritans put miscreants in stocks in the town square.

Those settling the west tarred and feathers con artists and horse thieves.

Today, the official vestige of that is pretty tame. It's the perp walk. The alleged Wall Street insider trader is marched out the office in cuffs, with the media notified ahead.

Yet today social behavior is beyond offensive. Crime, especially the violent kind, is escalating.

It could be time to return to official and unofficial forms of public shaming for restoring social control and deterring crime. 

The 14-year-old mouthing off in class is mandated to take the elective course in poop removal in public housing. The progress in that learning experience is streamed back to the classroom and athletic events. Others will earn class credits by simply watching that. 

And, the hell with "sentencing" to Alcoholics Anonymous meetings those pleading guilty to DUIs.

First of all, only about 5%  to 10% of those in AA get and stay sober.

Secondly, everyone understands the power of social pressure. Let law enforcement and the courts come up with a public means of punishment that is not cruel or unusual. Clever lawyers can put that together. 

Meanwhile, contemporary social systems such as neighborhoods in old urban areas have developed their own ways of public shaming. There is no ambiguity about the message.

The self-absorbed pulls into a cleared parking space post-blizzard.

Sweet.

That car owner returns to a smashed windshield.

Beyond the cost and inconvenience of replacing the windshield there is the horror that everyone has witnessed this play out of crime and punishment.

The fear inside the car owner is the possibility of being shunned.

Of course, never again will there be any gliding into a cleared parking slot. 

In a densely populated residential complex in New Haven, Connecticut, a woman spoke harshly to me in front of others.

Soon enough, in front of others, when I spotted her coming down the block, I stepped off the sidewalk until she has passed me. Then I stepped back on. As others observed the theatre the area became eerily quiet.

Quickly, the woman became more respectful in her speech.

An alterative, of course, would have been to follow standard procedure: Going to property management and reporting the harassment. Yeah, that would have branded me everything from a rat to a cry baby. No question, figuring out modes of public shaming is the most effective approach to righting perceived wrongs. Instead of taking on the label of "tattle-tale" we are anointed "community organizer."

Exactly the right tone and content for all your communications. Complimentary consultation janegenova374@gmail.com.

Fox - The Barbarians Are at the Gate & They Mean Business (Can Lou Dobbs Survive?)

The barbarians are at the gate of the alt-right Fox Corp.

They are the advertisers.

They are pulling out their accounts from the kind of broadcasting represented by Lou Dobbs, Jeanine Pirro, and Tucker Carlson. 

The issue is: Can the business piece trump the influence Donald Trump has over Fox, pun intended.

In his article in Vanity Fair, long-term expert on Fox - Gabriel Sherman - details the war going on about where Fox should be in terms of the politics of its broadcasting. 

Currently, Lachlan Murdoch is in charge. He's the chief executive officer of Fox Corp.

He seems to be caught between the demands of the cable network to scale revenues and the pressure of a powerful U.S. president who could be reelected.

Should the economy hold up and the Democrats not become politically practical, Trump could win by a landslide.

Of course, if the economy sours and the stock market crashes, Trump could go down in history as the guy who killed off the recovery. A Democrat could take back the White House. 

Meanwhile, it would be a challenge to rein in a popular personality like Dobbs. He has business expertise going for him. Anything about the economy is the loudest voice in the room. America is all-ears.

However, it's not unthinkable that the barbarians could take down the empires of Dobbs, et al.

Fox could shift to moderate.

What could accelerate that is this: The leadership at Fox senses Trump has become vulnerable. That will happen if the economy weakens.

The headlines on BusinessInsider are all about what could trigger the stock market crash and how severe it could be.

Full Disclosure: On Friday, I talked with my financial planner at Edward Jones. I took the gains from my stock and shifted, for now, to a more conservative investment strategy. 

Exactly the right tone and content for all your communications. Complimentary consultation janegenova374@gmail.com.

 

 

Families of Prominent Lawyers: Read Lisa Bennan-Jobs' "Small Fry"

The media and the apostles writing the Old and New Testaments of Silicon Valley chronicled the dark side of Steve Jobs.

So, the memoir by his illegitimate daughter provides no surprises.

In "Small Fry," Lisa Brennan-Jobs only serves up juicy detailed examples of what we know to be the genius' emotional opportunism.

That narrative is plenty satisfying, though. Published in early September 2018, it still ranks high on Amazon - 4,360. Here you can order it. 

At his best, Steve ran hot and cold in how he interacted with Lisa. That was even when he mandated that she live in his house.

At his worst, he was downright mean.

For example, because of some imagined slight, he would not write a check for her Harvard tuition - and not inform her.

The university would tell her.

Then she would have to scramble.

For her final year, Steve's neighbors who were aware of his amazing Machiavellianism paid the bill. Along the way they had also paid myriad other bills. 

Later Lisa's biological mother Chrisann Brennan created a detailed invoice of how much the neighbors had coughed up for Lisa over the years, presented that to Steve, and he reimbursed them. 

In between, he would manipulate her with her longing to be part of his family. His meme was: If you want to be in this family, you will ...

Frequently that will-do entailed putting in long hours babysitting his son Reed produced through his marriage to Laurene Powell.

Even on this deathbed Steve was full of tricks.

He kept telling Lisa how much he regretted neglecting her when she was young. He kept repeating that he owed her. She delivered the human response: understanding and forgiveness.

However, in the kitchen off his sick room the labels for the new family business contained everyone's name except Lisa's. Again, another painful moment of clarity for her that he would never let her belong with him. 

Some would like to explain Steve's behavior as that of a genius. However, those of us who have worked for geniuses know that many may be eccentric and laser-liked focused but not mean. 

My way of interpreting Steve Jobs was that there was no Steve Jobs the person. Instead there was a success machine brilliantly programmed to appear human but to make only opportunistic decisions.

Many prominent lawyers may or may not become that way. Or they may even may or may not start out that way.

Given that the U.S. legal system is primarily adversarial, Machiavellianism could be assessed by lawyers as probably necessary.

Also, since prospects, clients, superiors, colleagues, and the media track wins and losses, the programming must be as well-done as Jobs' had been. 

No matter the field, making it big is usually not pretty.

The families of top lawyers who are hurt by their behavior at home should read "Small Fry." The games are fairly stereotypical. 

Exactly the right tone and content for all your communications. Complimentary consultation janegenova374@gmail.com.

Public Perception v. Justice - Leslie Van Houten Will Likely Die in Prison

Ever since 2016, a parole board has recommended that Manson family member and murderer - Leslie Van Houten - be released on parole. 

And, she, of course, is still in prison. Here are more details from the media.

Twice, then-governor of California Jerry Brown said "no."

Now, the decision could be in the hands of CA 2nd District Court of Appeal. The three judges could decide that yes or no Van Houten should be released. Or they could decide to pass the decision to the current governor Gavin Newsom.

Those of us in the communications industry know well the public relations problems associated with parole for Van Houten.

After all, she is imprisoned in CA, where the Manson murder spree occurred. The memory of the Manson rampage has a long half life.

Yes, now 69, she has built up extensive documentation that she is a changed human being. In a Christian nation, many believe in the power of redemption. But hell she murdered people and that kept the nation terrorized. God bless her with peace of mind for changing. But keep her segregated from society might go the thinking of even the most forgiving Christian. 

Also, some would argue that Squeaky Fromme had been released from prison years ago. Not only had she been associated with Charles Manson (although no record of murders). She also attempted to assassinate Gerald Ford, when president. But Fromme was perceived as too un-together to ever do any real harm. Van Houten et al. seemed totally strategic and focused.

In addition, no one, even those highly credentialed psychologists and profilers, can predict future behavior. Vivid still in some minds is how literary celebrity Norman Mailer helped get Jack Abbott out of prison. Within weeks, Abbott murdered a waiter. 

This time around Van Houten's attorney Rich Pfeiffer indicates he has never been so optimistic. 

That gives Van Houten hope. Every human being needs hope in order to keep embracing the challenges of life. 

But, the brutal realities of public perception might result in that hope being transmitted to obtaining a release in the future. Not this time. 

My instincts as a professional who's been in the loop as a ghostwriter/scriptwriter of how decisions are made nudge me that Van Houten will die behind bars. 

Is that just?

Human beings, from the time of the execution of Jesus Christ, don't have a great track record for justice. 

Exactly the right tone and content for all your communications. Complimentary consultation janegenova374@gmail.com.

Maria Bartiromo - Positioned/Packaged Outside Bias Boxes

At age 51 and in a field tough for female, Maria Bartiromo still dominates. 

LA Times recently published major coverage how she has three types of programming on Fox.

Bartiromo's formula for sustained success may be this: Stay out of the bias boxes. That is, don't identify yourself as a victim and stay off the front lines of any movements. 

She doesn't position and package herself as associated with the concerns of the aging or with alleged challenges of women in media. Instead, she just keeps being The Worker Bee. Her daily show "Mornings with Maria" runs three hours every day. 

There's plenty to learn here. 

At the top of the list, leverage one's work product, not an ideology, as the only branding. Movements come and movements go. 

Two, ignore real and possible bias. Her breakthrough role was broadcasting from the floor of the stock exchange. What culture is more male-dominated. Yet, she did fine. When she was getting married the boys conferred on her the same ritual they did on their own - tying a ball and chain to her leg.

And, three, trust your gut and go with risks. At one point in her career, Lou Dobbs, who was already a brandname, warned her she was making a mistake going to another network. She went any way. She was on her way to the big time.

Reflection: It may be seductive to stand in the spotlight of a victim persona or representative of a movement. But that might not be the career path for staying power in professional life. 

Exactly the right tone and content for all your communications. Complimentary consultation janegenova374@gmail.com.

 

The BigPR Fail

This is a polarized era.

It's the business of members of the media to analyze the public relations tactics of attacks and counter attacks.

No surprise, society has received the equivalent of Master Degree training in the art and science of traditional public relations. 

So, we smirk when we come across most attempts at public relations.

We know what they are.

We know what those putting all that out there are trying to accomplish.

And we know that we have to connect the dots to figure out the realities. 

Suppose the Trump Administration didn't seem to PR not renewing the election campaign account with law firm Jones Day. The reason given was cost efficiency. 

Maybe. 

But how trust in the Trump Administration could have escalated if it played it differently.

It could have said that it didn't perceive itself appropriately served by a former member of that firm - Don McGahn - who was again with the firm. Therefore, it would have been downright dumb to continue working with that firm on the important matter of reelection.

There can be such communications power in non-spin. 

Exactly the right tone and content for all your communications. Complimentary consultation janegenova374@gmail.com.