Hearts & Minds: Why CEOs should resist the return of macho leadership language

Macho is back. Since Donald Trump’s re-election there has been a marked shift in the language some CEOs use. Gone, seemingly are the days when they agonised over every nuance; now, some are calling for more ‘masculine energy’ because the corporate world was becoming ‘culturally neutered’. But that has left many stuck in limbo, not sure whether to join with the fist-pumping, locker room jocks.

Coarse language, once prevalent in business, is making a sudden return. As is the declaration of views that would previously have been off limits. This, though, is ignoring one simple truth: the workplace has not changed overnight. The workplace has shifted dramatically over the past few decades, it’s not what it was, thank goodness, and to pretend that it is, is foolhardy, if not dangerously offensive.

Yes, arguably wokeness was capable of occasionally going too far, swamping management decisions and skewing thinking. But that does not mean it was not right and must be ditched. At its best it was about exhibiting consideration and respect, for promoting diversity, equality and inclusion, ideals that any modern company should aspire to, that reflect a progressive society at large.

Key today to how a CEO speaks and what they say and do, is authenticity. It’s the word, above others, on which they will be judged. The audience, which is most vital, is their stakeholders, all of them. Anybody else is secondary.

To suddenly switch tack opens you up to accusations of dishonesty. You can no longer be trusted; you’re no longer the person you said you were and the one that people, those that work for you and do business with you, that purchase your products and services, thought and bought into. Your hold is diminished.

It is only a short step to the dark ages of bullying, discrimination and harassment. There was once a fashion retail king. Staff broke cover and complained in the media about his lewd, swaggering behaviour. His reputation and that of the brand was collapsing. Partners and customers were turning away. There he was, fronting a clean, wholesome image when the reality was different. In short, he was saying one thing and doing another. He then chose to make it worse by moaning publicly that what he was practising was ‘just banter’. It wasn’t. His head-in-the-sand refusal to listen, to heed comms advice, cost him dearly. Let him serve as a warning.  

Chris Blackhurst is one of the UK’s foremost business journalists. He was previously Editor of The Independent and City Editor of the Evening Standard.