Issue No. 618 of Your Weekly Staff Meeting introduces a new book I couldn't put down. So...here's my Pop Quiz on the relationships between 27 U.S. presidents and 18 corporate CEOs. Plus, click here to see book recommendations in all 20 management buckets (core competencies), and click here for more book reviews. Also, read my recent review of Behind Closed Doors: In the Room With Reagan & Nixon.
Which U.S. president installed a phone in a CEO’s bedroom—without first getting his permission? Honest! It’s true!
I confess! When I scanned the fascinating table of contents for The Power and the Money, I immediately read the hilarious eight pages, “CEO Joke File.” (You will too!)
• “My mom used to tell me not to laugh at another’s condition because we may be in their position one day. So I laugh at Bill Gate’s condition every day.”
• “Steve Jobs would’ve been a better president than Trump. But I guess comparing apples to oranges is unfair.”
• “I hope Elon Musk never gets involved in a scandal. Elongate would be really drawn out.”
• “What’s the best thing about an Oprah Winfrey joke? You get the joke! You get the joke. You all get the joke!”
This book entertains with another 50 CEO jokes about 18 “titans of industry”—but I hope you’ll read every engaging page of:
The Epic Clashes Between Commanders in Chief
and Titans of Industry
by Tevi Troy (Aug. 20, 2024)
U.S. presidents “come and go,” writes bestselling historian Tevi Troy, who served in the White House and as Deputy Secretary of Health. “But CEOs—Chief Executive Officers of large corporations—in contrast, can potentially reign for decades.” What’s the best model for protecting your business while maintaining a healthy relationship with every new president’s administration? Many CEOs were clueless on how to relate to U.S. presidents (and vice versa). This book will shock you, but you’ll love it. I couldn't put it down.
Back in 2021, I devoted two reviews to Tevi Troy’s robust book, Fight House: Rivalries in the White House from Truman to Trump. My second review was a “POTUS Pop Quiz.” The Power and the Money also deserves two reviews (I’ve made over 100 notes!). So for my first review, I’ll start with the pop quiz.
THE EPIC CLASHES POP QUIZ!
Guess which Commander in Chief and/or Titan of Industry is referenced. (Select from the 27 U.S. Presidents and the 18 CEOs—see below.)
IDENTIFY THE CEO AND/OR THE PRESIDENT:
#1. “Government’s view of the economy could be summed up in a few short phrases: If it moves, tax it. If it keeps moving, regulate it. And if it stops moving, subsidize it.”
#2. This president, as senate majority leader, “…would brag about being the first legislator to get a car phone.” Later, this president (who loved phones everywhere, including his bathroom) so valued his connection with this CEO “…that he tried to make [this CEO] as accessible as his own aides.” Without consulting the CEO, this president had someone from the White House Signal Corps install a phone in this CEO’s bedroom! True story!
#3. This CEO “got an early lesson in the potency of cultivating presidential support.” Learning that this president was sympathetic with the car industry, this CEO went over the head of the Transportation Secretary to lobby this president on pending air bag regulations. “The regulation was suspended and air bags would not be mandated on American cars until…model year 1998.”
#4. “…you’re a smart guy, but my pollster tells me I’d commit political suicide if I raised the gas tax,” this president bluntly told this CEO. He explained that “people would blame him every week when they filled up their gas tanks.” He added, “That’s why you’re sitting on that side of the desk, and I’m the President.”
BONUS: Watch the trailer here for the new movie, “Reagan,” starring Dennis Quaid, and opening Friday, Aug. 30, 2024.
#5. As a child, this future CEO “had an active mind and a quick tongue. Once, when his mother asked him what he was doing, he said, ‘I’m thinking.’ When she queried, ‘You’re thinking?’ He responded, ‘Yes, Mom, I’m thinking. Have you ever tried thinking?’ Such snappishness would occasionally get him into trouble in his battles with the government, but it was the active mind, and its early attraction to computers, that set him on his path in life.” (Hint and LOL! No joke. When I was making notes and typing this CEO’s name into my Word document, the auto-correct suggested the name, “Billion Gates!”)
#6. “Today, corporations are subject to a panoply of government impositions in the form of regulations and legislation that shape the way they do business. Everything from taxes to hiring to environmental impact to hours worked is regulated to some degree and plays into business strategies and consideration. This is far different than the situation as it stood in the late nineteenth century, when men like [guess the two names here] built their monopolies with little federal governmental input.”
Note: For more on government overreach, you’ll appreciate the recent talk given by Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch at the Richard Nixon Library on his new book, Over Ruled: The Human Toll of Too Much Law (Aug. 6, 2024).
#7. This CEO, who “eschewed interest in a possible cabinet opportunity” did join this president’s Strategic and Policy Council. After one meeting that went very well, this CEO said, “…I’ve been coming down here since 1980, and this was the first presidential meeting I’ve ever had where it was like talking to a peer.” (Hint!)
#8. This CEO said in 2016, “I’ve never called a president in my life. So I don’t initiate ‘em. But…if any president asks me for help in any way, I mean, that’s part of being a citizen.” Stunning! This CEO “had thus far lived under fifteen, or one third, of our nation’s forty-five presidents.”
#9. This president’s “war on Fox News” prompted a strong response from Fox News anchor Chris Wallace, “who maintained a reputation as a non-partisan newsperson during his time at Fox.” Wallace called this president's team “the biggest bunch of crybabies I have dealt with in my 30 years in Washington.”
#10. Tevi Troy concludes with five rules of thumb, including this: “When CEOs do fight, they need to be careful. It should not be done lightly, and if done, it must be done with a purpose in mind.” This former attorney general (hint!) wrote in his memoir of being interested in working at GTE because CEO Chuck Lee wanted to push back against the regulatory state.” This attorney general believed some CEOs: “…are afraid the regulators will retaliate. Some act like hostages suffering from Stockholm syndrome.”
#11. BONUS NOTE. Tevi Troy documents Mark Zuckerberg’s flip flops on Facebook privacy issues and government regulations. He also notes that it took many years before Oprah Winfrey would endorse a presidential candidate. How times have changed! Read these news reports on “Zuckerbucks” and Oprah!
MATCH THESE PRESIDENTS AND CEOs WITH THE ABOVE STATEMENTS:
U.S. PRESIDENTS (1869-present):
Ulysses S. Grant, Rutherford B. Hayes, Chester A. Arthur, Benjamin Harrison, Grover Cleveland, William McKinley, Theodore Roosevelt, William Howard Taft, Woodrow Wilson, Warren G. Harding, Calvin Coolidge, Herbert Hoover, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Harry Truman, Dwight D. Eisenhower, John F. Kennedy, Lyndon Johnson, Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, Barack Obama, Donald Trump, Joe Biden.
CORPORATE CEOs:
Warren Buffett, Tim Cook, Jamie Dimon, Henry Ford, Bill Gates, Katharine Graham, Lee Iacocca, Steve Jobs, Henry Luce, JP Morgan, Rupert Murdoch, Elon Musk, John D. Rockefeller, The Warner Brothers, Oprah Winfrey, Lew Wasserman, Jack Welch, Mark Zuckerberg
POP QUIZ ANSWERS.Visit the Book Bucket webpage and look for the PDF with the answers to "Pop Quiz on The Power and the Money, by Tevi Troy."
TO ORDER FROM AMAZON, click on the title for The Power and The Money: The Epic Clashes Between Commanders in Chief and Titans of Industry, by Tevi Troy. Listen on Libro (12 hours, 8 minutes).
Learn more about Dr. Tevi Troy's six training modules that can be tailored to your organization’s needs, such as "Building A Cohesive Team & Avoiding Infighting." Visit 1600 Lessons.
One more CEO joke: “A boy walks up to Mark Zuckerberg. The boy says: 'My daddy said you were stealing our information.' Mark Zuckerberg replies, 'He isn't your dad.'"
“In 1988, as the Reagans were preparing to return to California, they had one last dinner at Graham’s house. Someone spilled a drink, and Reagan got down on his hands and knees to clean it up.” The author adds, “Graham never again had as close a relationship with a president or a first couple as she did with the Reagans.”
QUESTIONS: What does servant leadership look like when you’re a Fortune 500 CEO or the U.S. president? What does it look like in your organization?
Mastering 100 Must-Read Books - Part 16: Keys to Memorable Speaking and Writing
Book #88 of 100: Public Speaking Laws of Success
For your team meeting this week, inspire a team member to lead your “10 Minutes for Lifelong Learning” session by spotlighting Book #88 in Mastering 100 Must-Read Books.
Public Speaking Laws of Success:
For Everyone and Every Occasion
by Richard J. Goossen
Books #87 through #91 spotlight five memorable books to enrich your speaking and writing competencies. Ask a colleague to use the “Public Speaking Laws of Success Scorecard®” to evaluate your next presentation using the rating sheet from this very practical book.
• Read my review.
• Order from Amazon: Public Speaking Laws of Success
• Download the 100 Must-Read Books list (from John and Jason Pearson).
The author’s 50 short chapters (50 laws of public speaking success) are practical and sometimes painful. (For those of us who speak and lead seminars, his pokes-in-the-ribs are convicting.) Example: Ask a colleague to evaluate your next public speaking gig—including counting the number of “filler” words, such as “uhh,” “uhm,” “like,” and “you know.” LOL! Last week, a faithful eNews reader sent me a very timely email on this topic.
My friend recently heard a youth pastor speak. His Sunday sermon was on the Good Samaritan and it was a challenging sermon. But, the young minister said “like” and “right?” often. So my friend decided to count how many times the youth pastor said “like” in one 10-minute period. “He said the word 29 times…yes 29.” He adds, “So, I decided to count how many times he said ‘right?’ In a 10-minute period. He said ‘right?’ 19 times…yes, 19 times.”
Tevi Troy, the author of The Power and the Money, weighed in recently also on this topic in this WSJ article, “‘Like’ May Attract Like, But It Puts Me Off. When interviewing job applicants, I have a simple test: Can you talk without that verbal crutch?”
Like…you need to read this book. Right?
Song #29 of 45: “Respect Yourself”
Listen to “Respect Yourself," by the Staple Singers, Song #29 of 45 in our blog series, Johnny Be Good. You’ll love this chapter by Marc Myers. “The lyrics were a sermon of sorts, urging listeners to respect themselves and others.” But…could “church people” ad-lib between verses with “Deep, dee-diddy, dee, dee/deep…” and more? Reminder: Guest bloggers invited! More info here.
GO. SEE. THIS. MOVIE.
I reviewed the new movie, The Forge, in just four words: Go. See. This. Movie. To read my longer (not too long) review, click here for The Forge Movie. Absolutely powerful. And for more book reviews, visit the Pails in Comparison Blog.
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