Date: 2024-07-17 Page is: DBtxt003.php txt00019875
US Reputation
Irreversible Decline
I was responsible for America’s global brand at the White House. The damage is irreversible.
Peter Burgess
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Date: 2024-07-17 Page is: DBtxt003.php txt00019875 | |||||||||
US Reputation | |||||||||
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Burgess COMMENTARY Peter Burgess | |||||||||
| 11-17-207:00 AMUSA: CAN THIS BRAND BE SAVED? I was responsible for America’s global brand at the White House. The damage is irreversible. As a U.S. diplomat, I saw Trump destroy decades of diplomatic work in four years. But those hoping Joe Biden can reverse all the damage are sorely mistaken. I was responsible for America’s global brand at the White House. The damage is irreversible. [Source images: d1sk/iStock; Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post via Getty Images; Nobilior/iStock] MORE LIKE THIS Mid-doors: The zone between inside and outside that could change building design These playing cards show gorgeous visions for what the world will look like in 2120 These Lego-like modular ICU rooms are turning hospital parking lots into COVID-19 units BY BRETT BRUEN4 MINUTE READ This story is part of Fast Company‘s “USA: Can This Brand Be Saved?” package, approaching the question from a variety of angles and perspectives, ultimately aiming for an in-depth look at what America’s brand is, how it’s changed over the past four years, and where it needs to go from here. Click here to read the whole series. I spent the first half of my career protecting America’s global image as a diplomat on the streets of Tikrit, Caracas, and Antananarivo. Serving as director of Global Engagement at the Obama White House, it was my job to build long-term strategies to strengthen our influence around the world. When I left the government in 2015, I felt that we were making good progress. Then came Donald Trump, a former reality show mogul who seemed to exemplify all of the worst caricatures of America. He banned Muslims and called Mexicans rapists, attacked allies while embracing dictators, rejected science and facts. Our credibility crumbled. Our prestige plummeted. Decades of work was destroyed in a tweet. For the past four years, our national brand became synonymous with denigration and division. The inspirational ideals and international influence we once enjoyed were dramatically diminished, our star dimmed during his time in office. American businesses have struggled mightily to put distance between country and company. Many now hope that Joe Biden can rapidly repair and restore our reputation to its rightful place on the world stage. Unfortunately, I don’t believe it’s going to happen. Here’s why. AMERICA’S “BRAND” HAS BEEN DECLINING FOR YEARS The degradation of Brand USA predates Donald Trump. Considerable damage was inflicted by George W. Bush’s presidency: The war in Iraq, human rights abuses at Guantanamo, and our alienation of old allies drove America’s popularity abroad to what seemed at the time to be rock bottom. There was palpable relief in foreign capitals when Bush strode out of the White House for the last time. There is no doubt our brand improved markedly under President Barack Obama, at least with the Nobel Prize committee. But we didn’t go back to where we were before 2000. While 64% of Germans had a favorable opinion of the United States after Obama’s election, that number was 78% before Bush. From 2008 to 2009, Turkish opinion of the U.S. inched up only two points from, 12% to 14% favorable, compared with 52% in 2000. This is part of a phenomenon I have called the “Post-American Era.” It did not start with Trump, though he absolutely did accelerate the process. Not even George W. Bush gets full credit. Since the end of the Cold War, the United States has steadily withdrawn from its global engagements. We have increasingly defined relations with other countries through a narrow lens of security concerns. The result is a world in which we are no longer the principal protagonist. Biden will enter office with a lot of goodwill, but it would be foolish to think he can reverse that which has been lost. Our credibility and the willingness of foreign leaders to make serious compromises was permanently eroded by Trump’s decision to withdraw from the Paris climate agreement and the nuclear deal with Iran. Even if Biden assuages concerns about our commitment to NATO or the World Health Organization, serious doubts about their long-term viability will linger. OPPORTUNITY IN THE POST-TRUMP ERA All of this directly impacts America’s brand and that of our companies. We have seen a considerable drop in international visitors during Trump’s administration. His trade wars hit sales of U.S. products and services overseas hard. Half of Chinese consumers report they have boycotted our goods. More broadly, our brands used to benefit from the sense of strength, trust, and quality they contained. Those consumer preferences or perceptions are not easily changed. So what can companies do to effectively navigate these headwinds? It’s perhaps time to consciously decouple brands from American politics. Begin to build a more global image that is less dependent on the United States. It’s not just about changing your packaging or your postal address. The language used in communications should be more more international, too—no longer filled with American slang and cultural references. It is more important than ever that brands stake out positions on social and even political issues. Being less dependent on the U.S. position on the world stage requires your company more often to take a stand. Whether on climate change or racism, threats to democracy or truth, brands can no longer afford to be passive actors. Otherwise, they risk being defined by positions taken by whomever is in the White House. It’s increasingly important to establish and elevate your own voice on issues that impact the international community. This separation is part of a process I call counter-crisis communications. In today’s polarized political environment, businesses are regularly getting dragged into the middle of heated public debates. Establishing beforehand your public position on sensitive subjects decreases the ease with which others can misrepresent what you believe. In many cases, it may be finding middle ground, which is far preferable to some of the alternatives. The end of Trump’s presidency doesn’t mean that business leaders can ignore this hard work. America’s illustrious international image is not coming back anytime soon, and companies that don’t proactively define themselves may find themselves defined by politics. For many, this is an unfamiliar and indeed an uncomfortable spot. Yet it also affords companies a unique chance to reposition their global brand. That is an opportunity that does not come along often—seize this moment to tell the world where you stand. Brett Bruen is President of the Global Situation Room, Inc, which specializes in complex communications. He teaches crisis communications at Georgetown University and was Director of Global Engagement in the Obama White House. You Might Also Like: Why do Americans like it to be 72 degrees inside? This science-based face mask from an MIT-founded brand is the best we’ve found—and the 2.0 version is better than ever ADVERTISEMENT FEATURED VIDEO 6 ways to add more structure to your days ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT 11-17-205:00 AMWORKPLACE EVOLUTION This is what the office will look like in 2022 Columbia University Dean Emeritus predicts four major trends that will become common in the coming years. This is what the office will look like in 2022 [Source images: Aluna1/iStock; Arkadivna/iStock; alexangel21/iStock] MORE LIKE THIS 6 ways to root out morale-depleting fear among your employees Does practice always make perfect? The surprising answer How to figure out if you have a problem delegating—and what to do about it BY JASON WINGARD5 MINUTE READ In June of this year, an estimated 42% of the U.S. labor force was working from home full time—an experience that has fundamentally changed the nation’s views on where and how we work best. Determining how to integrate these learnings into future real estate decisions will be a difficult task, especially considering all of the challenges that site selection teams already face. “Figuring out who will work from home and who will require actual office space, which offices to prune and which to keep, how they will be configured and shared, and precisely where they should be sited,” professor Richard Florida wrote in the Harvard Business Review (HBR) last month, “requires more strategic thought, analysis, and planning than ever.” But where will all those strategic plans lead? What should leaders be thinking about when it comes to their real estate portfolios? Given that it will take time for leases to come due and changes to be made, I asked myself “what are the top trends that will shape the offices of 2022?” THE HYBRID (NOT REMOTE) WORKFORCE A key recent development in corporate America is the hybrid workforce, as employees split their time between their home and the office, rather than solely working at one or the other. Although many experts, including me, believe an entirely remote workforce is a smart strategy, recent surveys have shown that the vast majority of U.S. employees prefer a hybrid approach. Leaders, it seems, are listening. In a Colliers International survey of managers and decision-makers at nearly 80 companies, 86% said that moving forward, employees will work between one and four days at home. Since this hybrid workforce will be defined by flexible schedules and shared spaces, the offices of 2022 could be smaller. An August KPMG survey found that 69% of CEOs are planning to downsize their office space. “By 2025 I envision we will have a hybrid model and we will be more deliberate in who comes to the office,” said Fran Katsoudas, Cisco’s chief people officer. “It may be that workers come to the office two to three times a week. The shift could make the company rethink its real estate footprint.” Cisco is far from the only company considering this change. At Google, where 62% of employees want to work in the office “some days,” CEO Sundar Pichai has said the company will “create more flexibility and more hybrid models.” At Ford, where 70% of employees have expressed interest in a hybrid schedule, Jennifer Kolstad, the company’s global design director, has promised to “create a new landscape of work somewhere in the middle.” THE WORKPLACE ECOSYSTEM In 2022, offices will still exist, they will just have a new purpose. Rather than being taken for granted—a place where employees automatically report every day—they will become corporate centers specifically meant to spur innovation and connection. In the words of Dominique Bogdănaș, an associate at Colliers International, the future office will be “designed to support collaboration and accelerate creativity and team spirit.” That said, it will likely be just one destination among many. According to predictions from the global real estate firm Cushman & Wakefield, tomorrow’s offices “will no longer be a single location, but an ecosystem . . . to support flexibility, functionality, and employee well-being.” The company estimates that 50% of the workforce will soon embrace a workplace ecosystem comprised of offices, houses, and third places such as cafes, coworking spaces, and libraries. Starbucks, for example, plans to practice “hoteling,” with employees reserving office space only when they need to collaborate with others. Interest in such “agile workspace” strategies has reportedly grown 500% since the pandemic began. Over the next year, while its employees continue to work remotely, the coffee giant plans to redesign its headquarters: It will eliminate most private desks, renovating the extra space to foster cooperation and make it feel more like—a coffee shop. DECENTRALIZATION By 2022, the strategies behind corporate site selection will probably look different, too. Until recently, many leaders embraced what CBRE Labor Analytics calls “fewer and bigger,” as in, a limited collection of large offices. Following the pandemic, some have begun to question this approach, since geographic diversity can help “reduce the risk of disruption to business operations” when crises occur. Instead, many leaders are now prioritizing decentralization. One popular idea is the “hub-and-spoke” model, which involves a hub office in an urban area accompanied by “spokes” throughout the suburbs. This approach could give the hybrid workforce the flexibility it demands. In one example, REI recently sold its brand-new 400,000-square-foot campus and announced plans to instead open multiple offices around the region. “The dramatic events of 2020 have challenged us to reexamine and rethink . . . where and how we work,” said CEO Eric Artz. “As a result, our new experience of ‘headquarters’ will be very different than the one we imagined more than four years ago.” Alternatively, some leaders are choosing to open a string of offices in emerging markets. Amazon, for instance, is investing $1.4 billion into offices outside of Seattle, including in cities like Dallas, Detroit, and Phoenix. Pinterest may be planning something similar, as it recently terminated its lease for 490,000 square feet of office space in San Francisco. “As we analyze how our workplace will change in a post-COVID world, we are specifically rethinking where future employees could be based,” CFO Todd Morgenfeld told CNN. “A more distributed workforce will give us the opportunity to hire people from a wider range of backgrounds and experiences.” In the wake of the coronavirus, neither our personal lives nor our work lives will ever be the same. Management must not only rethink their office requirements for this new reality. They also need to consider a host of related issues, including the security, commuter transit, and supply chain implications of a reconfigured workplace. Forward-thinking leaders, therefore, are already looking past the offices of today and starting to think about how these new perspectives and trends will transform the offices of 2022. As Florida wrote in HBR, “It’s time for bold leaders to break ranks and establish new beachheads, spreading their investments wider and helping to build new innovation ecosystems.” Jason Wingard is Dean Emeritus and professor of Human Capital Management at the School of Professional Studies at Columbia University, with an academic focus in the areas of leadership development, professional learning and human capital management. You Might Also Like: Why do Americans like it to be 72 degrees inside? This science-based face mask from an MIT-founded brand is the best we’ve found—and the 2.0 version is better than ever ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT IMPACT IMPACT Mid-doors: The zone between inside and outside that could change building design IMPACT I was responsible for America’s global brand at the White House. The damage is irreversible. 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