I would guess that he thinks, because he is. He is not waiting for your feedback on his thoughts, to decide what to think next. He observes and draws conclusions. He's perfectly happy for you to have your own thoughts and opinions.
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A titan of industry with a degree in Philosophy! A desire for Truth! Inclusive Democratic ideals! You Go Reid!
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I am a fan of Reid Hoffman and David Rubenstein and tune in to their respective shows/podcasts - the great thing about these shows is both are proven business leaders and have a very nice way to engage their guests and ask pretty relevant and interesting questions. BTW, I also have been part of the first 1000 linkedin members - that today has over 5/600 million members!
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See...I really do not get this idea that CEO's or execs of public companies have a responsibility to express their moral and political beliefs. Hoffman is a smart guy and I just think this position is a way for him to justify his own forays into the political sphere.
For a public company, the executives' primary responsibility is to the shareholders, NOT to their own personal beliefs. Gillette didn't pay millions to air the ridiculous "toxic masculinity" advertisement to be a moral beacon for humanity - it is a signal of virtue as part of an overall grand strategy to sell more shaving cream. Stop fooling yourselves.
I believe there is a very real danger in this kind of thinking because it allows executives to act unilaterally in an echo chamber environment entirely of their own making with veiled ambitions. It is a power grab plain and simple and its dangerous because there are no checks and balances to this type of behavior.
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@MM - Some CEO's hold themselves to a higher moral value than just appeasing the stockholders. Just appeasing stockholders might mean skirting as many environmental laws as possible, or hiding data that indicates your tobacco kills people. Me, I'm in favor of CEO's and boards of directors that have amoral compass that doesn't always point to a dollar sign.
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@Jim Dennis
Of course you are, as am I. But I am not delusional enough to expect execs and boards to run on a moral compass - there are no morality departments in these corporate entities.
Be careful who you trust. Just because a CEO appears on CNN cordially discussing philanthropy, investment in low income communities, or telling you how to be a man in an advertisement, doesn't mean he/she is acting in accordance with a moral compass.
Motivations tell you a lot about people and I can assure you that CEOs (and board members for that matter) don't get to where they are by passing a series of morality exams.
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A refreshing interview. Look forward to listening to his podcast, Masters of Scale.
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Hogwash like this keeps me taking these self-important people seriously.
“But the thing that I learned from philosophy was an ability to articulate theories crisply...”
Really??? He should have going into advertising or sales...I guess he did, he is a private equity investor right, people entirely bereft of original ideas.
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