So a friend emails me a couple of hours ago and says, “Have you seen this?”—he’s referring to the now-viral New York Times op-ed by former Goldman Sachs VP, Greg Smith. (Side note: Goldman has about 10,000 VPs, so the title’s more about hierarchy than heft.)
My friend’s a self-declared tech guy, so his surprise was more about why this made such a splash than what was actually said.
But the timing couldn’t be better. Just yesterday, a trending tongue-in-cheek tweet surfaced linking to an internal Yahoo memo:
“CEO Thompson tells Yahoos big change is coming…”
AllThingsD’s take is priceless.
Now, “big change is coming” is one of those phrases that universally triggers heartburn across any corporate org chart. Every Yahoo employee read that memo—some probably twice—and, yes, the rest of Silicon Valley got the memo too. (Facetious? Maybe. But not wrong.)
So what’s the point?
In today’s world, news with conflict travels at the speed of light, and it’s instantly replaced by the next big thing.
But here’s the rub, especially from a leadership point of view:
Stay proactive.
Act fast.
Be transparent.
Even when every corporate instinct or polished leadership manual says to keep quiet, stay guarded, or deflect—don’t. Because in the internet age, anything written down is fair game.
Once it’s out there, it’s not just a memo. It’s a message, a headline, and potentially, a meme.
Your audience?
Selective
Critical
Ready to pounce on anything that smells like spin, corporate fluff, or misalignment with real-world values.
And honestly—with the bar for “popular leadership” where it is these days… can you really blame them?