The “leadership help” that Uber really needs
By Eric Newcomer
If you haven’t watched the video we published of Uber CEO Travis Kalanick telling black car driver Fawzi Kamel that “some people don’t like to take responsibility for their own shit; they blame everything in their life on somebody else,” then you should go watch it now. I was so relieved when the video (which has more than 3 million views on YouTube) finally published Tuesday. It was a stressful process. Kamel had wanted it to go viral, and it certainly did.
Uber has become an apology expert of sorts, but within hours, the company published what it called “a profound apology.” It’s short and intriguing:
By now I’m sure you’ve seen the video where I treated an Uber driver disrespectfully. To say that I am ashamed is an extreme understatement. My job as your leader is to lead…and that starts with behaving in a way that makes us all proud. That is not what I did, and it cannot be explained away.
It’s clear this video is a reflection of me — and the criticism we’ve received is a stark reminder that I must fundamentally change as a leader and grow up. This is the first time I’ve been willing to admit that I need leadership help and I intend to get it.
I want to profoundly apologize to Fawzi, as well as the driver and rider community, and to the Uber team.
— Travis
“Leadership help.” Uber watchers are pondering what exactly that phrase is supposed to mean. I laughed out loud when I read the end of the New York Times’ story on the apology. “Mr. Kalanick did not specify in the email what sort of help he would seek.”
I’d say the plurality of people read the statement as calling for some sort of adviser/leadership coach. Think a Bill Campbell-type. Before Campbell died last year, he was an indispensable Silicon Valley CEO whisperer. Venture capitalist Bill Gurley once described Campbell this way: “When you have Bill coaching the entrepreneurs, it’s like having extra wildcards in a game of five-card draw.” I’m sure Gurley — perhaps Uber’s most prominent board member — wishes Campbell were still alive to whip Kalanick into shape. Eric Schmidt said about Campbell, “His contribution to Google — it is literally not possible to overstate. He essentially architected the organizational structure.” Uber could use someone like that, but I don’t think that person would give the company much PR cover.
The second option is a Sheryl Sandberg-type. That’s a strong chief operating officer, who can also serve as chief public assurance officer. While Mark Zuckerberg hasn’t always had the trust of the markets, Sandberg has consistently maintained a stellar reputation with investors and the public. She’s an important face for the company, both because she’s a uniquely skilled corporate communicator who had Larry Summers as a mentor and because she wrote Lean In. Especially given Uber’s recent human resources disaster, a strong female leader would do the company some serious good. I saw Sandberg speak at the Wall Street Journal’s tech conference. The moderator came out gunning on her first question. Sandberg refused to be thrown off kilter. She turned to the crowd, greeted them warmly and won over the audience, even as she dissembled on substance. To be clear, Uber does have some high-ranking female executives. Rachel Holt runs the company’s U.S. business. Rachel Whetstone is overseeing all the apologies you’ve been reading.
But at this point, Uber may need a female COO, or CEO.
The third, and most drastic, option is an Eric Schmidt-type, a steward CEO who can come in and professionalize the company from the top even while the co-founder is still hanging around. The company’s reputational problems, morale crisis and moral failings may together be too big to do anything less extreme. But it would require the right CEO. I don’t have the answer for who it should be. We might see some intermediary moves first. I expect things to start happening, but some of the leadership changes likely wouldn’t come until after Eric Holder’s investigation concludes in a month or two.
Kalanick certainly has flaws and a lot to learn, but he isn’t Satan incarnate like some people say he is. He’ll need to figure out how to shed some of the very traits that made him resilient enough to make it to his third company and shrewd enough to outmaneuver an entrenched taxi cartel. But until that happens, Kalanick will need to find someone else who can speak for Uber. That person will need to be a saint.
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