While catching up on documentaries recently, I came across a video of a few years ago titled, “I Am an Animal.” The video is an insight into the motivation and tactics of Ingrid Newkirk, the co-founder of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) in accomplishing the goals and strategies of the organization. While Ingrid and PETA are rather controversial with a seeming equal number of people supporting the organization as speaking ill of it; the lessons to be derived from it are plentiful.
While the documentary allows the viewer to explore many aspects of the dynamic between Ingrid and others, the following strike at the core of the issues for many entreprenurs:
- Role of the charismatic leader
- Branding
- Relationship between Company Mission and strategy and tactics.
Role of the Leader
The video makes it clear that PETA is very much an extension of Ingrid’s driven views and that her involvement in PETA’s initiatives are hands-on and that she is aware of every initiative in which the organization is involved. Her subordinates are seen as assets for her to leverage to achieve her objectives – until they are unsuccessful. At that point, they are replaced, subject to her scorn and contempt, or counseled by her to change in order to return to her good graces.
Ingrid’s personal views drive the organization’s work and it is very much a reflection of her perspectives. Subordinates are only tolerated so long as they support her unique views on any of the following: animal rights, methods of uncovering abuses, marketing approaches, or a whole host of other strongly held beliefs of hers. Remove Ingrid from PETA, and the organization appears ill-equipped to maintain their momentum. Almost as if by her design; no one else is permitted to make decisions that are not entirely approved or consistent with her approach or preferences.
Branding
On the positive side, PETA has become positively associated with some of the changes that have occurred among:
- Slaughterhouses, cattle ranches, and farms used for raising animals for food production to ensure more humane approaches to animal handling (though Ingrid would prefer that there would be no use for any of these businesses as she views these as akin to prisons, concentration camps, and torture chambers that should be outlawed).
- Fashion designers and retailers that incorporated furs into their designs without awareness or appreciation for the horrors of fur traders and the conditions the animals face in order to secure their pelts.
- Research laboratories that conducted research that harmed animals (any animal research is seen as being unnecessary according to Ingrid and PETA).
While PETA has been credited with some advances and more progressive views about animal handling, they do suffer from a branding issue according to many observers or businesses impacted by their actions. In short, the notion of PETA taking steps to draw attention to their cause, even if the attention-seeking activities has led to some very strong reactions among others (and even among those within PETA as another co-founder, Alex Pacheco has left the organization and is quoted as saying that Ingrid values attention to her cause at any cost and is willing to undertake more and more outlandish “stunts” to accomplish it.
Relationship between Company Mission and Strategy and Tactics
So strong is her desire to remain uppermost in people’s minds that the organization has staged events that are clearly illegal (break-ins, damaging merchandise or laboratory equipment, harrasssment, etc.) and designed to frighten others on the one-hand, and constructed to draw attention to the organization for stunts and events that have little to do with animal safety or research (nudity in public, throwing pies at people at news conferences, tossing fake blood, or even real blood at people, having sit-ins or taking over offices and retail stores, etc.).
At this point, while some people may support the organization’s goals; and others are vehemently against their methods (or even what they stand for or have accomplished), the question has now evolved into, has PETA lost their focus and has just become a Pain in the Butt (PITA). When thinking about your own business approaches – how would you answer the questions:
- How different would your company be without you at the helm?
- What do constituents, peers, customers, suppliers, and others see as the company’s “brand image?”
- How closely do the actions of employees mirror the stated purpose of the company?
