Why business leaders can’t cope with criticism

Business leaders who use reputation specialists and chiefs of staff become unable to hear dissenting voices or handle public criticism, speechwriter and author Lucinda Holdforth says.

Ms Holdforth – a former speechwriter for ex-Qantas chiefs Geoff Dixon and Alan Joyce, as well as a former adviser to insurer IAG, financial services company AMP and the ABC – said top chief executives who surrounded themselves with “yes people” were unable to calmly present their arguments in public forums such as Senate committees, annual shareholder meetings and media interviews.