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Reader Profile

Robert L. Dilenschneider
Founder and Principal
The Dilenschneider Group

Editor's note: Each month, we ask a Directors & Boards reader to comment on critical issues facing directors today. If you'd like to participate in this section in the future, please email Scott Chase.

You have a new book out titled “Power & Influence: The Rules Have Changed.” What developments have triggered this change and what are their real significance?

To simplify a complex issue, the technology revolution of the past several decades is the principal driver of today’s era of new power and influence. In a very real sense, technology has become a great leveler, opening the door to power and influence to many previously excluded. The monopoly heretofore enjoyed by elites is under assault and rapidly declining. A playing field, once heavily tilted towards those with special expertise or wealth or birth or the right education, is over. If you are not tech savvy, your career may be ended.

What have some of those changes been?

Technology has changed everything -- especially in the arena of global business -- from essential knowledge bases to strategic thinking and business development. The rarified world of power and influence -- the so-called establishment -- is becoming increasingly flat. This technology-driven, more democratic universe of power and influence is also more Darwinian than ever.

Technology is such an all-embracing term. Can you be more specific?

The global Internet is, of course, at the head of the list. The statistical data about the size, reach, and array of data now readily accessible on the web is truly astronomic, ranging from the 2.7 billion searches conducted daily on Google alone to the billions of text messages exchanged every day. “Everyman” and “Everywoman” interested in power and influence can now have access to it if they have the talent and persistence. Information and easy access to such information have always been among the most fundamental keys to power and influence. Not insignificantly, the Internet has also created a new channel for networking -- still, one of the indispensable foundations of successful career-building.

Some will argue that all this new technology is not an unmixed blessing. What say you?

I agree. Cyberspace is littered with abandoned blogs, besotted e-mailers, unfocused programmers, etc. who create vast quantities of alleged information that fall into some kind of black hole. YouTube has literally trillions of video clips that nobody cares to click on. Countless podcasts go unheard. Success in cyberspace takes much hard work and a great deal of creative thinking and effort.

How have new communications technologies changed the way CEOs view the world?

Obviously, at least a basic knowledge of the new technologies available is increasingly essential for a CEO or anyone in a leadership positions. There is so much valuable information out there today and one wonders if many CEOs are simply not taking full advantage of this bonanza. If they did, they might not be caught so unaware in the face of inevitable crises. Even if he, or she, is something of a technophobe, a corporate leader has to recognize and understand what others in his/her, or competing, organizations are now capable of in this area.

Because you have written extensively on the subject, one would ask what are some of the prime attributes of a successful, powerful business leader today?

That, to be sure, might fill yet another book. Openness to change and new ideas as well as genuine accessibility remain crucial. And a little bit of humility never harms. Also, the ability and desire to take full advantage of all of the talent, creativity, and brainpower in one’s organization since so many now have access to information that can be extremely valuable. I have always found that the best power players in business have no problem in sharing that power. I would emphasize, too, that a leader must, first and foremost, be strategic -- not technical. Technology, in the final analysis, is only a tool and not an end in itself.

Still, one might ask why so many executives these days appear unprepared for disaster? How can they best anticipate and possibly deflect some of the impact of what seems to be a daily climate of “bad news?”

There are four simple rules for managing uncertainty.

Project a sense of calm. Wall Street has been through many “sky is falling” crises before. In the last decade alone, consider the Asian debt crisis of 1997-1998 and the dot.com implosion of 2000. Today panic is in the air. Leaders should project a sense of continuity, of having managed through the years and through the crises. Remember: This, too, shall pass.

Take early and decisive action on personnel. Create an immediate feeling of accountability and decisiveness. The goal here is to reduce the sense of uncertainty or panic as soon as possible and get everyone focused on the task at hand.

Ensure that the information you get is accurate. It is difficult to overstate the importance of this simple truth. In no circumstances can you delegate the collection of information to subordinates whose interests could diverge from those of yourself and the organization as the situation spins in unpredictable ways. While acknowledging that you will ultimately have to rely on your team for data, you must play a hands-on role in determining what information will be collected, how it will be obtained and how and to whom it will be disseminated. And there is a key corollary here: What you say publicly and what you say privately to your line managers must be consistent.

Manage yourself first. There is one thing above all others that managers must seize control of when disorder replaces order – their own heads. Wall Street crises often seem like the apocalypse and it is easy to get swept away in the flow of events. It is imperative that throughout the crisis, you as a manager take care of yourself from a health perspective, get enough rest, and keep stress levels to as low as possible.

Robert L. Dilenschneider formed The Dilenschneider Group in October 1991.

Prior to forming his own firm, Mr. Dilenschneider served as president and chief executive officer of Hill and Knowlton, Inc. from 1986 to 1991.

He has counseled major corporations, professional groups, trade associations and educational institutions, and has assisted clients in dealings with regulatory agencies, labor unions, consumer groups and minorities, among others.

Mr. Dilenschneider has authored eight books — including the best-selling Power and Influence, A Briefing for Leaders, On Power, The Critical 14 Years of Your Professional Life, Moses: C.E.O and The Critical 2nd Phase of your Professional Life. Most recently, he published 50 Plus!—Critical Career Decisions for the Rest of Your Life.

Mr. Dilenschneider started in public relations in 1967 in New York, shortly after receiving an M.A. in journalism from Ohio State University, and a B.A. from the University of Notre Dame.