The above-mentioned three quotes are not from a disgruntled
manager at an organization, nor are they from someone who’s had a little too
much to drink the night before. These ‘pearls of wisdom’ or ‘shotgun blasts of
nastiness’ are from the CEO of one of Europe’s most profitable airline. Yes,
Michael O’Leary built up a business that is wildly successful, but at the same
time, ratcheted up his nastiness with each Ryanair flight that took off.
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| Source - corporate.ryanair.com |
Now, you wouldn’t expect a well-heeled CEO heading a
game-changer of an organization in the transportation industry to mouth such
inanity, would you? But then you wouldn’t expect him to also register a
Mercedes Benz S500 as a taxi just so that he could speed up by using Dublin’s
bus lanes in order to get past pesky traffic! Michael O’Leary is a fascinating
character. An ace businessman, a financial wizard, but is he also the CEO who’s actually
detrimental to the health of his own organization? My colleague Vivenne
Raaijmaker asked whether O’Leary’s verbal bazookas had hurt Ryanair’s image and
whether any apology from the Irishman would simply do nothing to heal the
Airline’s battered reputation? I take this further, shedding light on how being perceived as offensive or arrogant, especially when a CEO is seen to be adopting that stance, can hurt corporate reputation.
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| Source - campaignlive.co.uk |
Humility goes a long way
According to Denner, Heitzler, and Koch (2018), a CEO’s
image is closely linked to that of his organization. Thus, purely by
association, it is not a stretch to imagine that Ryanair is cavalier,
irresponsible, and arrogant, just like it’s top boss. Zhang, Ou, Tsui, and Wang
(2017) argue that humility on part of the CEO can actually be beneficial to the
organization’s image, helping it to project itself as being ‘innovative’ and ‘productive’.
It also allows stakeholders and the general public to evaluate the organization
in complimentary light. Now, there are a lot of people who consider a humble
CEO to be a myth. But even a veneer of humility is at times enough to help
project a positive image. Take the case of Delta Airlines’ CEO Ed Bastian who
recently directed all executives of the Organization to fly economy class for
flights under three hours. Bastian, himself ‘squeezes’ into an economy class seat
when he travels on business and this has been well-publicized by the Airline.
Delta’s current reputation seems to firmly lie in the ‘favourable’ camp and the
CEO’s image of being ‘just another passenger who flies coach’ is definitely
helping.
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| Source - The Washington Post |
Losing the arrogance doesn't hurt
Henderson (1997) submits that it is essential that CEOs drop
arrogance in favour of a more approachable style especially when dealing with
stakeholders during and in the aftermath of a crisis (in this case most of
Ryanair’s pilots being forced to go on leave due to a rostering error) in order for their organization
and its activities to be perceived positively. O’Leary’s rather limp apology, his subsequent scramble
to construct weak alibis (blaming the weather), and his bizarre utterances in
the media, have all led to Ryanair being caught in an almost-unending spiral of
bad publicity and a battered reputation.
 |
| Source - The Guardian |
Being CEO is tough, O'Leary makes it tougher
Airline CEO's are supposed to have one of the toughest jobs in the world. Making a success of an airline is no mean feat, but is financial success the only indicator of favourable reputation for an organization? Creating a likeable persona, a reassuring environment where customers/stakeholders/publics feel like they are being listened to is a key driver of organizational reputation. Ryanair and Mr. O'Leary seem to have gotten it horribly wrong. The Airline was one of the last to establish a social media presence, doing so only in 2013. To top it, they put the famously offensive O'Leary on Twitter for a chat session. What ensued were more pyrotechnics, a lot of swearing, and another deep cut to the Organization's reputation stunningly by the Man who is entrusted with safeguarding it!
References
Denner, N., Heitzler, N., & Koch, T. (2018).
Presentation of CEOs in the media: A framing analysis. European Journal of
Communication, 33(3), 271-289.
HENDERSON, K. (1997). CEOs on the stand: How to help your
company's exec get beyond arrogance. Business Law Today,7(2),
20-23. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/23290657
Zhang, H., Ou, A., Tsui, A., & Wang, H. (2017). CEO
humility, narcissism and firm innovation: A paradox perspective on CEO
traits. The Leadership Quarterly, 28(5), 585-604. doi:
10.1016/j.leaqua.2017.01.003
