Shulou(Shulou.com)11/24 Report--

December 28 news, Elon Musk (Elon Musk) has a lot of strong connections in the business community. But industry experts say Mr Musk, the billionaire, is surrounded by "submissive" people and that his close business connections could be "the source of disaster".

William Klepper, a management professor who teaches executive leadership at Columbia Business School, quoted a fable in an interview: "this is a typical story in which the emperor is naked, but no one dares to tell him."Musk is in a very fragile position because no one in the chief executive team is flawless."

This month, Musk was booed by viewers on Dave Chapple's comedy show. At the time, Musk said it was "the first time I met in real life." Experts say it is not surprising that Musk reacted to public criticism in this way. In his own personal life, Musk seems to have been surrounded by praise.

A large number of text messages sent by Musk with some tech and media leaders in October showed that he had received a lot of praise for his plans to privatize Twitter. The messages included an unsolicited application to help him run the company, a request to restore his Twitter account, and a hope that his relatives would be considered for a role by Musk. Angel investor Jason Caracanis (Jason Calacanis) also offered to "bet" on Musk, telling Musk directly, "I will protect you."

Mr Musk, Mr Karakanis and Mr Musk's brother Kimbar Musk did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

"people want to get close to people who are powerful," says Rosabeth Moss Kanter, a professor at Harvard Business School. Musk is likely to be surrounded by a kind of worship.

"people want to get close to people who are powerful, which usually means that your so-called friends are more like followers," Cantor said. "there will also be naysayers. But big people are surrounded by submissive people who never let naysayers get close to big people."

In Musk's company, he always seems to be surrounded by a large number of allies. During the trial of Tesla's shareholder v. Musk pay case in November, one shareholder said Mr Musk had assigned some of his closest friends to Tesla's board, including his brother Kimbal Musk. The same is true of Twitter, and Musk has hired a number of his personal assistants to help transform the company.

"bring disaster" Arthur Boni, a professor of entrepreneurship at Carnegie Mellon University, said in an interview that Tesla's board of directors was "the root cause of the disaster". But Sabina Nawaz Nawaz, an expert who has worked with senior executives of technology companies such as Microsoft, says it may also be a positive sign.

"one of the hallmarks of a great manager is building loyalty," Nawaz says. " He declined to comment specifically on Mr Musk, but said, "people will follow them in various organizations. Some chief executives use this as a selling point to prove that people are willing to work with them."

Ayeret Fishbach, a professor of management at the University of Chicago, says a balance must be struck between maintaining a close circle you trust and promoting the exchange of ideas.

"We often talk about diversity for the sake of equality, but it also makes business sense," Fishbach said. "usually the best people in the room are those with different views."

Mr Cantor of Harvard Business School says the lack of a different voice in the inner circle could put Mr Musk and his company in a "very dangerous position" and could lead to "long-term failure".

In addition, Cantor said, it is not clear whether Musk has left room for criticism to those around him. In fact, Musk was not used to responding positively to criticism in the past. Musk recently fired several Twitter employees who criticized him on social media.

"tell the truth," Nawaz said in an interview. "telling the truth to the big shot" is very difficult. He added that it was important for chief executives to create a "psychologically safe" environment. She says she often instructs executives on how to respond to feedback.

Nawaz says that if there is no room for negative feedback, employees will either leave the company or "destroy" the company, such as taking a few more days off or doing inefficient work.

Eventually, with Tesla's share price plummeting and Twitter struggling to sustain advertisers, his business partners may be forced to "take action" if Mr Musk cannot find a way to turn the company around, says Kleppe, a professor at Columbia Business School.

"my overall feeling is that they put their wealth into his company because they know they can make money from it," he said. "the basis of this relationship is whether you can help me make money, and once the money is at risk, the relationship will change."

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