Antoine
Antoine
Aug 23, 2017 · 2 min read

Thank you for sharing Ellen Pao’s book excerpt, and kuddos for having the courage, intellectual honesty and humility to call yourself “ignorant” publicly. This is refreshing, especially as you are a thought leader from the “dominant” socio-ethno-cultural group.

I read her account and shared many of your feelings. But as MLK Jr said: “the time is always right to do what is right”.

Re Business leaders filling the vacuum, I agree there is a need (who wouldn’t?), and I think there is certainly intent and actions coming from some business leaders. It is not enough (is it ever?).

But before we get carried away, a few words of caution:

1- I tend to be always wary of people suggesting that people other than them (or belonging to another “group”) have an outsized share of the solution to society’s problems

2- Yes Corporations have a lot of power, and yes their executives derive a lot of power from their position as executives. Now they also face immense pressures. Yes they can (!)… but there are many reasons why they often won’t (some good, some bad, but all important drivers of behavior). As an aside, it is no surprise to see that the most vocal CEOs typically have effective control of their company voting rights.

3- A core root cause of where we are today is the commingling of politics and business and the outsized impact of some business leaders on where things are going.

With that said, I would suggest that for Business leaders to fill the vaccuum directly would be counterproductive, even with the best intentions. A more pragmatic approach is likely to support non-Business leaders who are charismatic, grounded, clean, and have morals/values aligned with the principles arisen from the “Enlightenment era” (apologies for the simplification). Humility, always!

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    Antoine

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    Antoine

    Strategy & Business Operations X Tech & Consumer - Top values: Insight, Impact, Trust