Like me, love me<\/p>\n
Ong Hock Chuan
\nJakarta<\/p>\n
There is something terribly wrong with President Susilo
\nBambang Yudhoyono's image advisors if the latest brouhaha over
\nthe president giving out his mobile number is any indication.<\/p>\n
Saturday's exercise, where the president gives out his mobile
\nnumber and asks anyone who had been maltreated by officials to
\ncall or sms him takes the cake. Any one who knows anything about
\npublic relations (PR) would not have advised him to make such a
\nmove. Many other chief executive officers (CEOs) have made the
\nsame offer to their peril.<\/p>\n
Corporate history is replete with examples of well meaning CEO
\nwho, in a desperate effort to show that they are accessible and
\nthat they care, give out their direct line numbers or mobile
\nphone numbers so that dissatisfied customers or staff can
\ndirectly communicate with them. The inevitable result: the phone
\nlines are jammed as thousands of callers, some genuine, but
\nmostly cranks, take advantage of the rare offer.<\/p>\n
The CEOs are then left red-faced as they see their best
\nintentions turn sour as recriminations surface when calls fail to
\nget through. There is more embarrassment when some bright sparks
\nstart to ask the question: \"If the CEO ends up answering
\ncomplains all day, who's left to captain the ship?\"<\/p>\n
That's exactly what happened to SBY-- the President's nick
\nname-- which now begs the question; \"Why did he do it?\"<\/p>\n
Saturday's fracas could be written off as a momentary lapse of
\ngood judgment if it was an isolated case of bad public relations
\ndecision-making. Unfortunately, however, the incident seems to be
\nthe latest in a string of hokey public relations moves that
\nsuggests that the President is receiving some seriously misguided
\npublic relations advice.<\/p>\n
If you look at the publicity surrounding the President over
\nthe past few months you can almost picture a set of advisors
\ntelling SBY that the most important thing for him to achieve as
\nPresident is to be liked by the people.<\/p>\n
Hence we see the results of contrived photo opportunities --
\nsuch as President sits down in grass to chat with boys when he
\nhappened to be strolling at a Cibubur park and President plays
\nping pong with junior civil servants -- being carefully placed in
\nnewspaper. How human! What humility! So down to earth!<\/p>\n
There is nothing wrong with being liked and to work at being
\nliked. But when this is done at the expense of other presidential
\nduties -- like being decisive, getting tough and taking the right
\nbut not necessarily popular actions -- something is terribly
\namiss.<\/p>\n
Take, for instance, the President's lament about how certain
\nbusinessmen and the bureaucrats were resisting the nation's
\nanticorruption drive. We all know that there are not only some
\nbusinessmen and bureaucrats who are resisting the anticorruption
\ndrive: they are actually taking a very active part in corruption
\nthemselves. And so are officials throughout the ranks in the
\nenforcement services.<\/p>\n
Or the lament about mayors and local leader not keeping their
\ncities clean. The presidential solution? Residents should
\ncomplain about them. People Power is admirable but if it was a
\nsolution Indonesia would be replete of model pristine cities by
\nnow.<\/p>\n
There is no reason in both situations that the president
\ncannot himself pressure the businessmen, bureaucrats and petty
\nlocal chieftains to bend to his will. Afterall, he is the
\nPresident with an unprecedented electoral mandate from the people
\nto clean house. If SBY so wishes he can use the enormous prestige
\nand influence of his office to persuade or cajole almost anyone
\ntoward a certain course of action.<\/p>\n
Yet this does not happen. Why?<\/p>\n
It is as if the President was being advised by a Spin Doctor
\nthat his strength lies in having the Common Touch. That he has an
\nability to connect with the people. Therefore he should go all
\nout to do this as it will ensure his continued popularity.<\/p>\n
If this is the case then the president is getting pretty bad
\nPR advice. Good PR lies not in what you say but what you do. And
\nwhatever you do has to be in synch with what the public wants if
\nyou want to make any headway.<\/p>\n
What the public wants today is for Indonesia to get going. It
\ncan only get going if there is a spring cleaning of the
\nbureaucracy and the institutions of power in Indonesia. They want
\ncorruption to stop and the government to provide a level playing
\nfield. Unless they get these SBY can be the most likeable and
\ncuddly president ever but sooner or later they would turn on him.
\nSo if the president is smart he should shift the emphasis of his
\nPR efforts into projecting himself as \"effective\" rather than
\n\"likeable\".<\/p>\n
In the meantime though, I shall keep on trying his mobile
\nnumber to bitch about this rogue tax official...but I cant get
\nthrough.<\/p>\n
The writer is a partner at Maverick, a public relations
\nconsultancy that specializes in crisis and issues management.<\/p>",
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