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      There was a strong US flavour to the latest gathering of the KPMG Business Leadership Centre (BLC) in Dublin, a timely conversation with Mick Mulvaney, the former White House Chief of Staff during US President Donald Trump’s first term in office.

      “We’re steeped in White House experience here,” said Eamon Dillon, Partner and BLC Lead, as he introduced both Mulvaney and the event moderator, Gina London, a former CNN correspondent who now specialises in executive communications.

      The audience comprised of members and guests of the KPMG Board Leadership Centre – set up to help directors and business leaders explore critical boardroom challenges, deliver practical insights, and drive relevant boardroom discussions.

      An Irish-American and former Republican congressman for South Carolina, Mulvaney served in the US House of Representatives from 2010 to 2017 and had his “dream job” as Director of the Office of Management and Budget — which assists the US president in meeting policy, budget and regulatory objectives — from 2017 to 2019. In parallel, he was a director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau in the first Trump administration. 

      Mulvaney called out a presidential trait that many business leaders may recognise: “Hierarchy is not part of his mentality, titles are not part of his mentality,” he said. “A lot of CEOs are like that: they like a really flat organisation and if they like working with you, they’re going to find as much for you to do as possible."

      “How do you get a job done in a business? You go find the busiest person in your company and you give it to them, and you know they’ll get it done. I was that guy.” Applying business terms to politics, he was seen by the president as “the turnaround guy”, a valuable asset in any organisation.  

      Eamon Dillon
      Eamon Dillon

      Partner, Board Leadership Centre Lead

      KPMG in Ireland

      Managing morale 

      As White House Chief of Staff, Mulvaney ran the equivalent of a medium-sized company, with about 1,700 staff across the Executive Office of the President. “The Chief of Staff has two jobs: you are a senior policy advisor and/or the person who runs the building. Different chiefs of staff take that role differently. I did both,” he said. 

      For Mulvaney, that included an important role in people management and building morale, “It was a political turnaround to come in and fix the operational structure of the West Wing.”

      Mulvaney’s approach included “management by walking around”, being visible and available to staff, a practice attributed to the early days of technology group Hewlett-Packard (HP). He took disillusioned senior leadership on a retreat to Camp David and spelled out some home truths: “If you can't figure out a way to be happy at this and good at this, then this job is not for you. If you can come to realize that, and accept that, you are going to have a blast working here. If you don't, then you need to go ahead and leave.”

      The delivery was blunt but the lesson is equally applicable to a business leader or board member as a White House staffer: be clear on the mission and your part in it.  

      Controlled chaos and negative news

      Like business leadership, managing the White House was “controlled chaos”. For Mulvaney, like a board member, one of the priorities was figuring out which issue or piece of bad news was going to stick and persist. “If it's going to go away on its own, you don't have time to deal with it,” he said. 

      Dealing with the sticky issues involves looking at a problem and its possible solutions from all sides. As Mulvaney knows from experience, not least of working through the Covid-19 pandemic, that job can be extremely difficult if leadership doesn't like to hear bad news – a situation that can sometimes arise in business, where positivity is an important attribute.

      “You do have to know the potential downside is to any situation,” said Mulvaney. “That’s the importance of having somebody in the office, in your organisation, who is able to tell you what you don’t want to hear. As a leader, you have to be able to respect that person, not lash out against them.

      “You don't have to agree with them, but you have to at least take what they say with some credibility. If you don't, you have a blind spot.” It was a useful reminder that the best boards – and the most successful organisations – rely on diversity of opinion and constructive challenge.

      Mulvaney was in Dublin as the relationship between the US and Europe, which underpins huge trade volumes, is under pressure and he cautions that the old trans-Atlantic relationship is likely gone for good.  “I don't think the relationship is ever going back to the way it was before,” said Mulvaney, who was appointed US Special Envoy for Northern Ireland in 2000 but resigned after the attacks on the Capitol on January 6, 2001.

      Geopolitical view

      For board members in Ireland and elsewhere, wider geopolitics has become a top line issue that affects procurement, pricing, logistics and even staffing. Just some of the current considerations are the Russia-Ukraine war, the US-Israel war on Iran, and the role of NATO. 

      An optimistic outlook

      Despite the uncertainty, Mulvaney said there are “all sorts of reasons” to be optimistic.

      He also offered hope to leaders who are committed to positive employee engagement, building trust with positive behaviour and leading with integrity

      “One of my things in life that keeps me sane after all the jobs I've had is I don't worry about things I can't control,” said Mulvaney. That sounds like good advice for keeping a level head in the boardroom.

      In his closing remarks, Eamon Dillon, who heads the Board Leadership Centre , welcomed Mulvaney’s openness, insights and perspectives from his time inside the West Wing. “There are lots of thought-provoking things to take away as we go back to our businesses and our boards,” he said. “At the BLC, we’re looking forward to continuing the conversation.”

      Get in touch

      If you’d like to find out more about the support offered by the Board Leadership Centre we’d be delighted to hear from you. 

      Eamon Dillon
      Eamon Dillon

      Partner, Board Leadership Centre Lead

      KPMG in Ireland

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