Leadership: The Art of Communication or Deception Dr. Thomason Kaplan University

Hypothetical on Leadership A group of 10 shipwrecked survivors are living on an island. The group has nominated you as the head of supplies. You do an assessment of the water supply and determine that there is water left for only 10 more days for all 10 survivors. 2 people per day will die after 10 days. Should you inform all of the survivors of the dilemma?

Vote on this through the poll Yes No So, the results are________.

Why should we inform them? What are some reasons?

Now Suppose we change it up a bit 2 of the survivors are nobel prize winners, 2 of the survivors are doctors, 2 of the survivors are teachers, 2 of the survivors are reporters, and 2 of the survivors are sentenced to life in prison for horrible crimes they committed. Would this change anything?

Vote: Let’s look at the responses Would it change your response if you were in one of the categories?

How should we communicate our message to the groups we lead? IS everyone in the group equal? Should everyone have the same ability to gain information? Should everyone have equal ability to respond to the information? Or are there certain groups that should be favored?

Next Hypothetical: Communicating to those inside the group vs. outside the group The 10 survivors on the island talk to one another and decide that they will ration the water and decide that it will go to the Nobel Prize winners, 1 doctor, 1 teacher, and 1 reporter. They make a pact that they will not reveal how they rationed the water. The 3 survivors are rescued several days later. The reporter writes a big story about their decision. Did the reporter violate the groups pact?

Private Information Should information discussed in private, but pertaining to the public good, be open to public discussion and transparency?

WikiLeaks and the Classified Documents Released Hillary Clinton, Julian Assange said, "should resign." Speaking over Skype from an undisclosed location on Tuesday, the WikiLeaks founder was replying to a question by TIME managing editor Richard Stengel over the diplomatic-cable dump that Assange's organization loosed on the world this past weekend. Stengel had said the U.S. Secretary of State was looking like "the fall guy" in the ensuing controversy, and had asked whether her firing or resignation was an outcome that Assange wanted. "I don't think it would make much of a difference either way," Assange said. "But she should resign if it can be shown that she was responsible for ordering U.S. diplomatic figures to engage in espionage in the United Nations, in violation of the international covenants to which the U.S. has signed up. Yes, she should resign over that." Read more: G G

Communicating Information in Private vs. Public To what extent is information private in a public sector? Is there such a thing as private information?

Final Hypothetical In your local paper, the Governor of your state just announced that your state is the most prosperous state in the country. More jobs, a large surplus of revenue, and increasing business prospects for the future. A report in that same paper examines the budget shortfall in your state is growing to approximately $24 billion. Is your Governor misleading the public? Vote now!

Framing the Issue What is this? Is there a difference between framing and misleading? Is this, like beauty, in the eye of the beholder?

See you all on the discussion forum Enjoy your week!