What could the unfortunate quote of the financial adviser of the Greek Prime Minister, Alexis Patelis, regarding PhD holders have in common with the thoughts expressed during the same days in the Wall Street Journal’s CEO Council Summit?
Probably a lot more than you can imagine! Because at the time when the Greek politician stated that he would not hire a doctor in his office, the CEO of Merck & Co, Kenneth Frazier, expressed the opinion that maybe companies should stop asking for a university degree as a prerequisite for hiring in some positions.
The former, however, supplemented his statement by famously saying that the willingness to devote yourself to a PhD thesis is almost synonymous to laziness, while the latter explained his position (which is also shared by the CEO of IBM and the heads of many other large companies) in a drastically different way. He argued that high academic credentials, especially in some entry-level positions, are an obstacle to finding work for many, less privileged citizens who do not have the opportunity to obtain a university degree, but should nevertheless have equal opportunities with others.
The two men may not have wanted to say the same thing; their arguments though might have similar rationale. Regardless, the way they spoke, expressed themselves, communicated their point of view, makes one seem unacceptably provocative and the other a visionary leader.
Because, the bottom line is, that in communication you need to know not only what you want to say, but, most importantly, how to say it!
