Communivations

The Harvard Business Review’s January 2009 edition includes a fascinating interview with Chuck Wagner, who is the current the Ringmaster of the Ringling Bros. and Barnum Bailey’s Circus, thus the inspiration for this article.

For 138 years, this business model has survived two World Wars, twenty-six presidents, three depressions, ten recessions, the rise and collapse of communism, and the growth of the world population from 1.4 billion to 6.5. Considering that only General Electric is the only component of the original Dow Jones Industrial Index, the sustainability of the Ringling Bros. and Barnum Bailey’s Circus is to say the least an enigma or at best heroic.

HBR refers to Chuck Wagner as a “new breed of ringmaster… [who] keeps his foot in both camps at the circus – respecting its tradition” but also leading forward bearing the torch of change.

Ringling Bros. and Barnum Bailey’s Circus is a perfect metaphor for what is happening within Social Media and Web 2.0. It embodies today's businesses model. Business is, like never before, a three-ring circus with CEO’s and CFO’s and CIO’s learning the art of the New Corporate Ringmaster.

First of all, the new Ringmasters can learn a great deal about the way things will be done in the future just by studying the election of Barak Obama. Curricula and commerce will never be the same. His organization rewrote the book, raising more money in one year than any other candidate in history. Consider, in 2008, the average IPO raised only $248 million, while Barak Obama’s campaign raised an indecent $600 million. Ringmasters: take note.

As is true for a Ringmaster, the CEO MUST excel in the art of engagement and this new engagement is conducted through Social Media. The New Ringmasters MUST GET IT. Business today is about community optimization. Social Media represents new kind of “oxygen” that will provide organizations real-time market intelligence with the ability to harness these metrics. Business models will no longer survive a generation, or even a four-year term. How long did it take for Mosaic, Alta Vista, AOL or even Yahoo to trip and fall?

The New Ringmasters will have to embody the four major acts within any circus.

High Wire Artists: is the art of maintaining balance while walking a tensioned wire between two points usually at great heights. Balance, focus, strength and a great deal of courage are requirements. There are no obese high wire artists. The analogy points to the dexterity of leadership necessary to move the company forward from one place to another. The Social Media metaphor here is message management. Brand alone will not be enough. Social Media has given customers a voice, and they’ll never give it back.

Lion Tamer: is used as a dangerous stereotypical component of the New Ringmaster’s occupation due to the obvious risks of engaging with powerful carnivores, which may be the media, a competitor or even ‘untamed’ board members. Without the working-knowledge of how the Social Media mechanism works, time, reputation and credibility can be lost over a weekend. "Jamie" L. Dimon is a great lion tamer: known for his ability to make the numbers work. While other banks gesticulated themselves into oblivion, Jamie spoke through the hyperbole and mastered the moment. After the Congressional hearings, JPM’s stock price withstood the pressure.

Jugglers: physical human skill involving the movement of one or more objects, usually through the air. In the case of the New Ringmaster, what they must juggle are products, information, cash flow, sales and human capital. The late Chairman Steve Ross of Warner Communications was an absolute genius at talent management. He was able to support a team that included Barbara Streisand, Ahmet Ertegün, David Geffen, Steven Spielberg, Al Pacino, and Robert Redford just to mention a few of the super stars that worked under the WCI umbrella. Social Media is about collaboration or even at times a conspiratorial undercurrent to it. ITunes understood the pent-up frustration of the artists and together with MySpace, is giving power back to the artists. And they too are not going to give it back.

Clown: is found in most cultures. In the case of the New Ringmaster, they are able to attract the attention of the audience often when behind the curtain, scenes and acts are changing. The key Social Media skill here is the ability to keep the conversation going in the midst of a culture of change. The New Ringmaster knows that when the conversation stops, so does the show… and the show must go on!

To some extent, all of our jobs require a bit of New Ringmaster skills, calling for a new knowledge and understanding how to integrate the emerging Web 2.0 platforms. With some trial and some error we will all learn, but we can’t go back to Kansas anymore Dorothy.