Tired of the Corporate BS
I took a pretty hard swing at Anheuser-Busch on my Substack page today. I don't have a lot of tolerance for companies that fail to address problems in a straightforward manner and hide behind a feckless PR firm that is too cowardly to take a stand on anything out of fear of pissing someone off. It sounded like the whole statement was written in a safe room, then shoved under the door for release to the press. I can't imagine what management is like when they are so timid. It's just more evidence of a weak organization.
The thing about living out here at Moose Lodge is that I'm away from the bullshit. I can look at companies with more clarity, and I find it easier to see through the nonsense from out here. I'm not in anyone's echo chamber.
I was in a meeting on Friday with a company that was about as plain-spoken as they come. It was refreshing to just hear a straightforward explanation of a company's plans without the BS, right down to what's on schedule and what isn't without apology, but with sound reason. I got off the Zoom call feeling like I could trust anyone who had something to say in that meeting. It was about 180 degrees from some of the BS I've sat through in tech where everything is jargon, geek-speak, with some hipster tossed in and a lot of spin.
I don't even drink, yet I find Anheuser-Busch to be annoying because they are so far out of touch with the very fabric of the United States and say stupid things because they think their own customers are stupid. This is typical of city management who thinks they know what's best for everyone else when they are completely wrong on all counts. It's arrogance and a belief that what they say in the US somehow goes. Customers are telling them otherwise. They don't understand the core of the USA, and it shows. You have to get out here and engage with people to see what it's like firsthand. They aren't the mindless hicks corporate America tries to stereotype, especially Anheuser-Busch. This is more about how AB InBev sees the world and then dictates down to Anheuser-Busch without any responsibility for the mess they created.
I write what I write because it's what I stand for and it's what I believe. I don't care if some disagree or want to argue. There is no such thing as great leadership from the mushy middle, and that's where Anheuser-Busch is attempting to play. It won't work. It never has.
I worry about the US. We don't turn out enough great leaders who run companies with a clear pulse on the customer. We'll see how much grief I get in the Twitterverse.
(Lightly edited with GPT-4)