A LETTER TO THE PRESIDENT’S MOTHER

CEO Indra Nooyi’s name came up during a meeting recently where we were discussing female entrepreneurs. It came up because Indra had a very creative and individual way of getting the best from her staff.  She wrote letters at regular intervals to the mothers of her chief executives at Pepsi where she worked, praising their efforts and explaining the demands of their role in the company. It seems this paid off in terms of staff retention, pride and performance. I wondered, in a mischievous way, whether this could be employed at present with inadequate politicians, say, and if so, what these letters would be like:

Dear Mrs Trump,

It is now 100 days since Donald was elected and I felt I just had to write and tell you how well he is doing. Doesn’t time fly?

You will, I am sure, be pleased to know that Donald has settled down well, though he hasn’t quite decided yet where his home is. I understand that as well as his New York Tower, he spends time in The White House and also in Florida. Perhaps you could explain to him that his friends need to know where they can get hold of him?  He certainly keeps in contact with everyone else and is very quick at tweeting (if you know what that is) so that people know what he thinks.
 
He has plenty of new ideas and ambitious plans for the company and in meetings he hasn’t been afraid to talk about them and has even put some of them into practice!  It may have been a disappointment to him that some of the people he appointed have resigned. More fool them!

I’m sure Donald will find others to fill their place.

Some of the press, he tells me, have been less than kind to him.  He claims they have even been lying about him. This is hard to believe, I know, and will concern you, but Donald will stand up for himself, I’m sure, and put these bullies in their place, and while he has Melania at his elbow, he should be able to handle the Russian side of things.

On that note, he does seem to like women a lot, doesn’t he?  Perhaps you could have little word with him about that?  Overall, his performance in this firm has been quite dynamic. I do hope this continues. I think he’ll go far.

I will write to you again in a month or so.