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Years ago, I got to work with the CEO of a company that was hired to help electrify the fleet of municipal vehicles in Indianapolis.
From the moment I started working with him, I was struck not just by the CEO’s willingness to tell the company’s story to anyone who would listen—media, policymakers, community members—but his determination to do so.
At one point, he sat for more than an hour with a local television outlet going over every detail of the program, including some of the missteps that had happened up to that point and how the company was going to resolve them.
I’ve worked in communications and public relations for a couple of decades, and it’s not always the case that people who have a story to tell want to tell that story. Sometimes, it takes a lot of coaching to get them there. Sometimes, they never do.
I decided to write about this CEO after local journalist Adam Wren recently commented on X that “Leaders don’t run from things but toward them.”
His post was a reference to a different city-related story, but it got me reflecting on lessons I’ve learned from clients, bosses and candidates I’ve had a chance to work for and with over the years.
Author and inspirational speaker Simon Sinek has noted that the most successful leaders and organizations have a clear definition of their purpose and why they do what they do. They have a north star, and they never lose sight of it.
The CEO of the municipal fleet company was a decade ahead of his time, pushing a vision for electrification long before the federal government invested billions in charging infrastructure and incentivized individuals to purchase electric vehicles.
His solution to the challenge of aging, costly, gas-powered municipal fleet vehicles was rooted in a desire to improve the environment and reduce emissions. It also was backed by financial analysis and data that showed how it would save the city money over time.
That wasn’t enough. The program got caught in political crossfire that ultimately killed it years later, at which point the CEO transitioned the company to a different business model, still focused on electric vehicles, still with the same north star.
The one thing I saw him do during the time I was involved was accept responsibility for what was happening. He didn’t avoid tough questions. He didn’t blame others. He wanted to make it work.
In my experience, the people and organizations that lead with honesty and transparency are the ones who succeed as leaders in the long run—even if their ideas do not.
To be clear, it is much easier not to be honest and transparent than it is to be honest and transparent, especially when you are staring down a story that could end your career or dramatically alter your personal life.
It is human nature to convince yourself that something bad will go away if you just give it a few more days or weeks or months. But much like interest that compounds when you only make the minimum credit card payment, the result almost always becomes too much to bear.
There undoubtedly are more elements to successful leadership than following a north star, accepting responsibility when things go wrong and embracing honesty and transparency, but those seem like a good place to start as we evaluate those currently in positions of leadership and seek out new leaders to guide us in the future.•
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Chartier is a lifelong Indianapolis resident and owner of Mass Ave Public Relations. Send comments to ibjedit@ibj.com.
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