Blankenship's unsustainable corporate 'leadership'

by: Carnacki

Tue May 25, 2010 at 12:10:34 PM EDT

What is most striking about the leadership style of Don Blankenship, the CEO of Massey Energy, is his consistency. Years ago, Blankenship made statements that not only have come back to haunt him, they have cemented him as the "Anti-CSO."

By CSO, I mean Corporate Sustainability Officer. As I explained in my last post, part of the CEO's job is ensuring that everything a company does is sustainable. He must consider the positive and negative consequences of the company's actions, outside its normal business routines. That includes disastrous mine accidents that could result in devastating loss to families and communities, and environmental nightmares like the Gulf oil spill. Inherently, the job of CSO involves an appreciation of the importance of long-term planning.

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Blankenship represents the opposite of what an ideal CSO needs to be: visionary, supportive, and someone who understands that there is a direct connection between the health and safety of workers and the health and stability of company finances. Blankenship will be forced to understand that connection. In particular, in the area of legal fees, he will pay for his company's tarnished reputation and lousy employee retention. He will also have to live with the guilt of presiding over a company that employed 29 souls no longer on this earth.

Blankenship did not change after the 2006 Aracoma mine fire killed his workers. There's no reason to expect he will experience any sense of guilt over the latest deaths. To Blankenship, the deaths are just part of the cost of his doing business.