THE NEW CEO ACTIVISTSon controversial topics might provoke an adverse reaction, it is also
likely to attract media coverage, which increases the opportunity
for a CEO’s views to be heard in the fi rst place.
To infl uence public policy, the message has to be authentic to both
the individual leader and the business. There should be a compelling
narrative for why this issue matters to this CEO of this business at this
time. The issue selection is also a crucial time to “get smart” about
the underlying details. CEOs can quickly get in over their heads if
they start speaking publicly about complex issues and are pressed by
knowledgeable journalists and commentators. Because the credibil-
ity of business leaders rests on the perception that they make deci-
sions after careful analysis, CEO activists can be eff ective only if they
really understand the issue under debate.
When to weigh in
Once the issue is selected, the CEO activist has to understand if
there are key moments when speaking out might actually make a
diff erence. Is it while a piece of legislation is being considered, or is
it afterward?
We have observed that a CEO activist’s chances of blocking a par-
ticular policy are typically better than his or her chances of revers-
ing legislation that has been enacted. As we have seen with the
Republican Party’s eff orts to repeal the Aff ordable Care Act in recent
months, the U.S. legislative system was designed to be slow moving
and deliberative. This institutional feature makes it diffi cult not only
to pass sweeping new legislation but to repeal existing laws as well.
Also, consider the news cycle. As we noted earlier, being the fi rst
CEO to quit one of the president’s economic councils earned Frazier
(and Merck) signifi cant positive media coverage. When other CEOs
quit in rapid succession over the next 48 hours, their stories were
lumped together. Frazier’s actions will likely be remembered more
than those of the CEOs who followed him. Of course, there was a
downside to all the attention: President Trump struck back directly
at Frazier, tweeting an insult and citing Merck’s responsibility for
high drug prices. To date, there’s no evidence that this has hurt
Merck’s business.