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Sam took the bait: Why looking strong is different from acting strong
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Sam Altman tried to stomp out a small fire started by his competitor, but he mostly just created a lot of smoke. I think his response to Anthropic’s SuperBowl ads, which mock chatGPT’s plans to launch ads, is worth an analysis. By spending more than half his text arguing from a place of being personally hit (“We are not stupid,” “They are dishonest”), he achieved the opposite of what a leader should do. This is heat, not warmth. It burns, but it doesn’t invite anyone to sit down and listen. When a leader attacks a competitor this aggressively, they don’t look strong; they look worried. And so, Altman achieved a status drop. He stepped down from his position as the visionary builder to get into a mud-fight. He forced his audience to look at the mess, rather than looking at the future. He proved that Anthropic’s ad got under his skin. The irony is that he actually had the perfect wood for a warm, inviting fire: “This time belongs to the builders.” That is a message that brings people together. It offers hope and agency. But because he put it at the very end, after all the reactive defense, the wood was already wet. He achieved a defense of his company, but he failed to light a path for his users. You don’t beat a rival by stomping out their torch; you beat them by building a bonfire so bright that no one looks anywhere else and so inviting that people come closer. Keep lighting the path, __ If you like podcasts but not the 2 min intros, my podcast “Irresistible Communication” is 2 minutes overall and always comes with an actionable insight you can try right away. |
What the Best Leaders Say
Daily insights to help you change minds and drive action. Bi-weekly premium essays that dive deep on how the world’s best leaders communicate.
Strategic clarity at the top. Confusion below.That’s the status quo in too many organizations. The CEO knows exactly what she wants. The board refines and approves it. It sounds brilliant. But then the relay chain takes over:Directors “translate” the business terms → managers “interpret” what it could mean for everyday tasks → and teams can only guess what the strategy actually is. Every layer adds a thought, nuance, perhaps fear and no one can really explain the original intent. But why does...
There’s a very simple reason why most messages don’t spread. It has nothing to do with how smart the message is or how polished and elaborate your argument is. Me and you have seen too many smart, polished, and elaborate arguments fail. The reason is much simpler: People are selfish. They treat their message as if it’s their own. They want others to spread it exactly as they said it. And then they wonder why no one repeats it. Here’s the problem: Sharing is not about you. It’s about what the...
Is this the biggest lie we tell ourselves:“I’ve made it very clear”. Well, not in the strict sense of the word, of course. It’s not technically a lie. You did make it very clear. But we both know that clarity is not really what happens on the stage (or in the email). Clarity is what happens in the hallways, two days later. The actual lie is this: It’s the middle managers’ fault. They just didn’t get it. They passed it along wrong. Spinned it. Mis-quoted you. Which they did. Only that it...