18 http://www.business-spotlight.de 2/brand [brÄnd] Marke
convenient[kEn(vi:niEnt]zweckdienlich
fly[flaI] ifml. hier: ein Erfolgs-
modell sein
founder[(faUndE] Gründer(in)
godfather [(gQd)fA:DE] Pate
immortal [I(mO:t&l] hier: unvergesslich
impact [(ImpÄkt] Einfluss
line: draw a ~ between... eine Grenze zwi-
[laIn] schen ... ziehen
loo[lu:] UK ifml. Klo
loudmouth Großmaul
[(laUdmaUT] ifml.
piss sb. off jmdn. stocksauer
[)pIs (Qf]ifml. machen
spotlight: put sth. in etw. ins Rampen-
the ~ [(spQtlaIt] licht rücken
take a back seat in den Hintergrund
[)teIk E )bÄk (si:t] treten
tick more than one box hier: mehrere As-
[tIk )mO: DEn )wVn (bQks]pekte ansprechen
(tick sth. UK etw. abhaken)
visible hier: in der Öffent
[(vIzEb&l] lichkeit stehendOf course, the personal has
always been important, and
in an interconnected, inter-
dependent 21st century, those
who would like to pretend
otherwise have few places to
hide. Modern business lead-
ers are highly visibleand
their customers and employ-
ees today have the tools toexamine their actions and to react
quickly, loudly and widely.In 2002, I interviewedthe late
Anita Roddick for this magazine. I
asked the founderof The Body Shop
whether business can always be ethi-
cal. “It should onlybe ethical,” she
answered, explaining that she kept in
mind the words that Harvey Keitel, in
the film Holy Smoke!, wrote back-
wards across Kate Winslet’s forehead,
so she could read them in the mirror:
“Be Kind”.
This column will put the personal
in the spotlight. And it’s not just
about heroes (or movies). It will look
at the impactof people on business —
whether as visionaries, bureaucrats or
autocrats — and the impact of busi-
ness on people — be they customers,staff or communities. Luckily, some
news stories tick more than one box.
Ryanair, the Irish airline headed by
loudmouthMichael O’Leary, recent-
ly announced steps to calm angry
customers and improve brandimage.
One of these is O’Leary’s intention to
take a back seat(perhaps near the
loos, which at one time, he considered
charging passengers to use). The CEO
who once commented that people
who forgot to print their boarding
passes deserved to pay €60 “for being
so stupid” now says Ryanair must
“stop pissing people off”. Well,
there’s an idea that could fly.“It’s not personal..., it’s strictlybusi-
ness.” With these immortalwords,
Michael Corleone, alias the Godfa-
ther, describes an attitude that draws
a convenientlinebetween commerce
and people. While the Mafia is hard-
ly a classic role model, there are many
who share the belief that, in busi-
ness, actions and their human conse-
quences can be separated.
In the 1998 movie You’ve Got
Mail, Tom Hanks’s character tells
Meg Ryan’s that it’s “not personal”
when he forces her small bookshop to
close. “What is that supposed to
mean?” she replies. “All that means is
that it wasn’t personal to you. But it
was personal to me. It’s personal to a
lot of people. And what’s so wrong
with being personal anyway? ...
Whatever else anything is, it ought to
begin by being personal.”Elisabeth Ribbansis a British journalist and ed-
itorial consultant. She is also a former managing
editor of The Guardiannewspaper in London.
Contact: [email protected]Das ist rein geschäftlich, also nimm es bitte nicht persönlich! Leichter gesagt als getan.
Denn lässt sich das wirklich voneinander trennen? In unserer neuen Kolumne befasst sich
ELISABETHRIBBANSmit der Wechselwirkung zwischen diesen zwei Aspekten.■BS
advancedPoor role model? Al Pacino
as Michael Corleone“This column will look at the impact of people
on business and of business on people”GLOBAL BUSINESS IT’S PERSONALPeople are the key to business
Corbis18 It's personal 2_14 16.01.14 15:44 Seite 18