I am curious whether the “acceleration of a cultural shift in US boardrooms leading up the inauguration” which was incisively written about by Financial Times writers in FT’s Washington reporter Steff Chávez White House Watch Newsletter this week, is a volte-face that will play out as quickly in UK and international boardrooms as to quote the FT, “companies are reshaping how they interact with society”.
The impact of the policy shifts at global tech giants Meta and Amazon have been widely commented on. The FT highlights that the “motives behind the (policy and cultural) shifts are more complex than pandering to incoming power”, quoting David Solomon, the chief executive of Goldman Sachs comment on the Trump administration “running a growth-y playbook”.
With this cultural shift, are we seeing a reframing of what it means to be a responsible leader? In my experience across international markets, cross-cultural awareness, global sensitivity to diverse cultural, political and economic factors are at the heart of building stakeholder relationships grounded in trust. As global leaders convene at Davos, it will be interesting to see if corporate messaging, narratives and leadership storytelling also reveal a pivot away from empathy and a compassionate leadership style towards a more alpha transactional leadership style, tonally aligned with political change.
Written: January, 2025
