Why CEOs Are Not the Best Political Candidates

Two wealthy former CEOs are running for political office here in California: Meg Whitman (formerly of eBay) and Carly Fiorina (formerly of HP). They are both using the fact that they ran companies and were successful in business as evidence that they will be able to be successful politicians, but this is definitely not the case.

First of all, corporations are not run as democracies. Yes, there are varying levels of consensus that are built and people play "politics", but at the end of the day, the CEO is the boss and has total power over those beneath her in the organizational hierarchy. Corporations are more like dictatorships. CEOs don't have to negotiate and compromise. They can listen to everyone's opinions and then make the decisions. This does not prepare anyone for the political process at all. And I think one thing all can agree on is that we don't want this country run like a dictatorship!

Secondly, the goal of a CEO above all else is to make the company successful. A good CEO cares about the people of the company, but it's really because those people contribute to achieving the goals of the organization. The mindset of a CEO has to be to consider business goals first, people second. Leaving aside employee safety, which absolutely should be the top priority, to illustrate what I mean, a business leader should work to keep employees engaged, motivated and, therefore, productive. However, business leaders should not feel obligated to keep someone employed even if they are doing a bad job because that's better for the employee.

On the other hand, the goal of an elected official as part of our representative democracy is to represent the people who have elected him or her. Being a CEO does not prepare anyone for this role, because they think of people as an important means to an end. And I am not saying this is a bad thing! Business leaders have to think this way, but I sure don't want political leaders to. I want political leaders to represent their entire constituency, from CEOs to those struggling in poverty.

I would much rather be represented by an experienced politician, who understands the legal system, knows how to navigate the political process, and above all has demonstrated commitment and passion for representing "we the people" in this representative democracy: people like Jerry Brown and Barbara Boxer.

September 11th and its Long-Lasting Impact

Last year, on this date, I wrote this post remembering September 11th. At that time, I wanted to focus on remembering those who perished on that fateful day. Now, one year later, with hatred, fear and bigotry even more pronounced, I can't help but reflect on the long lasting negative impact September 11th has had on this country. It's like we are still reeling from the blow to our innocence. My sister compared it to a case of national post traumatic stress disorder, and observing the turmoil and divisiveness taking place right now, I have to agree. The fear is so heightened that people are talking about "terror babies" and concocting wild scenarios of Islamic community centers being "victory mosques" or training compounds. There is no basis in fact for any of these outlandish theories, but people are still so scared, they will believe anything. And the very freedoms we are supposedly hated for and are supposed to be defending (freedom of religion, freedom from unlawful search and seizure, freedom from cruel and unusual punishment) are slipping through our fingers as fear takes over our rational minds and our Constitutional rights are diluted.

And of course, the money we have spent on the so-called "War on Terror" that could have helped our economy through the financial crisis is gone with absolutely nothing to show for it. Osama bin Laden was never found, Al Qaeda is still recruiting, we are caught in a quagmire in Afghanistan, and Iraq is a mess.

Yes, I remember 9/11 with terrible sadness, but now it's as much for where we are today as for what happened that horrible morning nine years ago.