Janet Napolitano, our head of Homeland Security, had a solid reputation as a female leader, even spoken of as a Democratic presidential candidate in the future.
That is until she uttered the words, “the system worked” in reacting the attempted Christmas day terrorist attack on Flight 253.
Though a little late in coming, President Obama demonstrated his leadership chops by saying with a tip of the hat to Harry Truman, “the buck stops here” and there was “a systemic failure.”
From a branding perspective, when a tragedy strikes a brand, a company or a country, as a leader you have to take responsibility and you have to present a plan to turn things around. And, most importantly, you have to utter words that convince people that you are up to the job.
People don’t want to hear that “the system worked” even if it did. Because if the system worked we need a new system that can be more effective in catching terrorists. What did work was the brave people on Flight 253 who took charge to thwart the world-be terrorist.
Napolitano further hurt our credibility as our leader of Homeland Security after President’s address yesterday. When asked what surprised her in her role as director of Homeland Security, Napolitano replied that she was most surprised “by the determination of Al-Queda.”
Are you surprised their determination? After 9/11, after the CIA massacre at Khost, after…?
The morale of this study is the importance of political savvy in personal branding. When you’re a leader, you have to realize that everything you say and do will be watched, especially when there’s a big mess-up. Your words can brand you as a leader or not up to the job.
