Contact O'Dwyer's: 271 Madison Ave., #600, New York, NY 10016; Tel: 212/679-2471; Fax: 212/683-2750
 
ODWYERPR.COM > PR Commentary return to main page

Fraser Seitel
Fraser P. Seitel has been a communications consultant, author and teacher for 30 years. He may be reached directly at yusake @aol.com

He is the author of the Prentice-Hall text, The Practice of Public Relations.

The Practice of Public Relations
Order from Amazon.com

October 1, 2001
TIME FOR PAUL O'NEILL TO LEAVE THE FIELD
 
Yankee Paul O'Neill
Stick around, Paulie.

Paul A. O'Neill is the right fielder of The New York Yankees. Blessed with one of the sweetest swings and most consistent hitting records in baseball, he says little, is often surly, but when he talks - people listen. Now in the twilight of his career, he has intimated he will retire at the end of the season.

He shouldn't.

Paul H. O'Neill is the U.S. Secretary of the Treasury. A longtime friend of the Bush family and former CEO of Alcoa Corp., he is upbeat and amicable, but when he talks people are dubious. Just beginning his tenure as Treasury Secretary, he clearly expects the President to retain him in the pivotal post for a while.

He shouldn't.

Leadership.

That's what is desperately needed today - to guide the nation out of the abyss engineered by animals.

The first leader to step forward in the haze of a toppling Trade Center was New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, who restored his reputation and secured his legacy as a courageous communicator and master motivator, when his constituents most needed reassurance and hope.

Following Rudy's lead, President Bush has stepped into the leadership breach and performed skillfully thus far. Bush's Ground Zero bullhorn session, Chicago O'Hare airline pep talk and historic Congressional address were the kind of gutsy communications initiatives we expect of and need from our leaders.

Likewise, Bush's lieutenants -- particularly Dick Cheney, Colin Powell, Donald Rumsfeld and John Ashcroft - have acquitted themselves well on the important communications front.

With one glaring exception.

Treasury Secretary O'Neill, although a nice and decent and well-meaning man, has tried hard to equal the stature and replicate the performance of his colleagues. But alas, he has fallen short.

With the nation now faced with unprecedented economic challenges - a stealth recession exacerbated by an unpredictable war - the need for a strong, persuasive and confidence-building Treasury Secretary has never been greater.

Toward that end, the unfortunate best "mid-course correction" for the Bush Administration may well be to consider replacing Mr. O'Neill with a more forceful leader.

It isn't that the incumbent Secretary isn't trying. Clearly, he is, as witness his "economic war on terrorism" remarks after the attack. It's just that with the nation's economy so hammered - gross domestic product verging on recession, consumer confidence trashed and the stock market falling as precipitously as it did in the dark days of 1987 - an economic spokesman to rival the Secretaries of State and Defense and Attorney General is needed.

Such an economic point man should follow a leadership formula along the following lines:

Think before speaking.

To build credibility and trust, a responsible leader must steadfastly avoid a "Ready. Fire. Aim." mentality. Words must be preceded by thoughts that make sense and answer pressing questions. That's what President Bush did in his Congressional address.

Secretary O'Neill, by contrast, has developed an unfortunate reputation of speaking first and thinking later.

During his confirmation hearings, the Treasury Secretary-designate dismissed a key selling point of the Bush Administration's tax plan by questioning whether "front loaded" tax cuts could do much to fend off a slump; not exactly the best "first impression" for a new team member.

In April, O'Neill agreed to sell $100 million in Alcoa stock. Three months later, he still owned stock in his former company, had profited from its increase since the new Administration took over, and suddenly refused to reveal how much stock he had left.

O'Neill's seeming reluctance to divest, while Alcoa shares skyrocketed, didn't exactly assist an Administration seeking to distance itself from its predecessors in terms of candor.

"One of the sad truths of Washington is you can't take people at their word anymore on anything," said the executive director of the Center for Public Integrity, adding that the Treasury Secretary "made money by holding onto [the Alcoa shares] while the Administration's policies have driven up the price of his stock."

Speak authoritatively.

A leader also must speak with authority, confident in his words. This is particularly the case with a policy maker in a national Administration, and even more particularly in a time of crisis.

O'Neillspeak, by contrast, hasn't exactly inspired confidence. The Treasury Secretary has been more "cheerleader" than authoritative spokesman.

In July, he predicted on the "Today Show," budget surpluses "as far as the eye can see." Woops.

Later, O'Neill mused publicly about how a weaker dollar might be a good idea for the nation - the economic equivalent of dissing motherhood and apple pie.

And then two weeks ago, when the market finally reopened after an unprecedented interruption, Secretary O'Neill blithely predicted that a "patriotic rally" would likely commence. I wish.

The point is there is nothing wrong with "cheerleading." Indeed, in the midst of such economic gloom, national optimism is sorely needed. But so, too, is wise and thoughtful rhetoric as to the economic policy that will restart the nation. On this scale, Treasury Secretary O'Neill has thus far come up way short.

Act decisively.

Finally, the essence of leadership is decisive action -- making policy decisions and setting in motion actions that set the stage for recovery.

Such economic leadership is particularly necessary to counterbalance an aging Federal Reserve chairman, who was largely "asleep at the switch" while the economy plunged into its extended swoon last fall.

On the other hand, Alan Greenspan's rate reduction after the market's fall two weeks ago demonstrated appropriately forceful leadership. A similar monetary move this week would be equally appropriate.

Equivalent financial leadership from Treasury is just as imperative. While Mr. Greenspan, living on past laurels, is revered by the Congress, Mr. O'Neill enjoys little such consideration.

Ironically, since the terrorist strikes, one economic policy-maker who has made frequent appearances before the Congress is the respected Robert Rubin, the former treasury secretary under President Clinton and current Citigroup vice chairman. Rubin, in fact, has recently been more visible and vocal in Washington than his successor.

Were the President to make a reluctant mid-course correction at Treasury, a returning Mr. Rubin would be the clear best choice.

 

Click here for printer friendly version of this story

Click here to e-mail this story to a friend

Click here to tell O'Dwyer's what you think about this story
(Responses should include your name and affiliation)

Responses:

 

Paulette Barrett, The Barrett Workshops, [email protected] (10/1):
Seitel is on the mark, in terms both of saying goodbye to O'Neill and bringing Rubin back. Where do we send emails? Will Frasier start a petition movement? And while we're at it, let's keep a watchful eye on the designated Homeland Security team, following Tom Ridge's swearing in next Monday.


 

Editorial Contacts | Order O'Dwyer Publications | Site Map

Copyright © 1998-2020 J.R. O'Dwyer Company, Inc.
271 Madison Ave., #600, New York, NY 10016; Tel: 212/679-2471