FINANCIALLY, CAN NAJIB DO IT? The world of finance can sometimes resemble a war zone; it takes a special set of skills to successfully negotiate the chaos, pressure and personalities. So, when you think about it, the most renowned world leaders would probably fare well in this environment. Lets look at past world leaders, their strengths and weaknesses and how they would measure up if they were to work in finance today. Could success on the battlefield or in the White House translate into success in the boardroom? Read on to take a look at where these famous personalities might have found a niche in the corporate world. John F. Kennedy - Senior Vice President, Worldwide Marketing and Sales The scion of not one but two influential families, Kennedy was groomed for some level of notable power and fame, if not the presidency itself, from birth. (The untimely war death of the original Kennedy presidential hopeful, Jack’s older brother Joe, created a vacancy.) It’s a general rule of human relations that ceteris paribus, people are genetically predisposed to buy their goods and services from the charismatic rather than from the dour. More than any leader on this list, Kennedy had an abundance of charisma and photogeneity, which might sound superficial but which became vital qualities for a world leader in a new age of mass media, television, and eternal campaigning. And if any president was a natural salesman, it was the man who convinced a prosperous nation of 180 million that a 43-year-old could make a viable presidential candidate. Marketing and sales executives at major multinationals have job requirements that differ in kind, not merely in degree, from their smaller counterparts. A successful worldwide VP needs to be fluent in other cultures, literally if not figuratively. Kennedy was educated in the United Kingdom, and traveled extensively throughout France, Poland, Hungary, Romania, Egypt and what are now Israel, Russia, Estonia, Latvia, Germany and the Czech Republic before the onset of World War II. He then spent 4 years on the other side of the world as a naval officer, commanding sailors and earning medals while fighting the Japanese in the Pacific Theater. To reach untapped markets, a competent senior vice president of worldwide marketing and sales needs to be ready to adapt to any contingency: the job requires skills that go far beyond taking orders and ensuring that the widgets are delivered on time. And no president dealt with more unexpected and varied crises in a shorter period than did Kennedy. It takes someone supremely confident and organized to invade a neighboring nation (albeit unsuccessfully), thwart Communism both in Latin America and Southeast Asia, and contain a bellicose Soviet Union without causing global conflagration – all while expanding civil rights back home and setting into motion man’s first journey to the moon. A VP of worldwide marketing and sales is directly responsible for increasing revenue, ever on the lookout for greater streams from multiple sources. To the extent that the analogy carries into political leadership, Kennedy had a greater hand than almost anyone in developing the contemporary American “brand” and advocating for its growing use and acceptance around the world.
Posted on: Wed, 27 Nov 2013 17:09:20 +0000