Management lessons from NBC’s Leno-O’Brien imbroglio

January 29, 2010

Courtesy of NBC

Senior management and boards of directors can draw useful lessons from the recent “Tonight Show” fracas, says Adam Galinsky, professor of Ethics & Decision in Management at the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern. As BusinessWeek reports, NBC’s late-night brouhaha illustrates that a good succession plan should involve more than just picking a successor.

In a sense, Jay Leno was an outgoing CEO, and NBC’s decision to keep him around bred backbiting, sniping and hierarchal dysfunction, Galinsky says in a Q&A with the magazine. The board has to make sure the other person leaves. “Make it clear that you tried something and you know your experiment didn’t work, and you are moving forward with a new plan,” Galinsky says. “And do it quickly.”

Regarding the performance of the new CEO — who in this case was Conan O’Brien — the board must decide in advance how much time it will give the new person to establish the culture and to put the people in place that he or she will need to be successful. But amid the uncontrollable variables of the fast-moving business world, perfect measurements can never be made, Galinsky says.

How does the new person smooth things over? Galinsky recommends redirection, reciprocity, and rationality. Redirect people’s anger toward the appropriate source; create reciprocal goodwill by offering them something they want; and instill rationality by letting them know that “if they screw around with you, you will come after them with all the weapons at your disposal.”  — Greg Beaubien
 

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