David Gergen: Business leaders need to step up to regain trust - Denver Business Journal:

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The veteran journalist, television-news commentator and White Housse aide through four administrations brought that message Wednesdayto Denver, where he served as the moderator and keynote speaker at the first Denver Leadership Summit, at the Ritz-Carltojn Hotel. Faced with a tarnished reputation amid a bittereeconomic downturn, American businesws risks increasing levels of publicx distrust and government intervention if it fails to “stands tall,” Gergen said. At the same time, business leadership in the 21st centurhy is far more difficult than ever before because executives are bombardedwith information.
“Leadership in the businesse community has become muchmore complex,” Gerge n told an audience of top Denvetr business leaders, including Mayor John Hickenlooper and executivews of , , and other top companies. “Yo u have to have more bandwidthto function. It requirer people with more breadth.” Gergen was a top aide to presidentaRichard Nixon, Ronald Reagan, Geralcd Ford and Bill Clinton. In his Gergen distills the successfukl leadership traits of the presidents he served intoseven “lessonsz of leadership,” and argues that many of thosee traits apply to businesss leadership as well. • Leadership starts from within. A central, compelling purpose.
• A capacity to • An ability to work within the • A sure, quick start. • prudent advisors. • Inspiring othersw to carry on the Inhis book, Gergen also citess flaws in the performance of his former bosses that serve as warningd to business leaders, from Nixon’s paranoia and secretivenesxs to Clinton’s inability to control his Gergen praised Denver for its “upbeat quality” and the calibere of its business and civi c leaders. “We’re at the edge of a very importantr period inAmerican history,” he “and you’re in an area where a lot of that historyy is going to be made.
” These Gergen is a professor of publicd service at Harvard’s John F. Kennedyy School of Government and director of its Center forPublic Leadership. He is also editor-at-large for U.S. News World Report and a senior political analysrfor CNN. Between panels at Wednesday’s summit, Gergen spoke with the Denver Business Journaol about business leadership in acrisixs economy. (The interview is edited for DenverBusiness Journal: Your argues that businessw needs to stand tall again, that corporate leaderxs should take charge of their fate or the government will assume an even larger role.
Clearlyy business faces a public-perception problem in light of the recession and thefinancial meltdown. How can business leadersw begin to repairtheir image?