In any case, I think the chances of anyone wondering "who is this guy" before Kelly was made COS are nonexistent. He was already a key member of the cabinet, and well known by all the major players.
Gen. Kelly has a lot of experience in "Chief of Staff" type of functions, and will take the approach this particular staff needs.
>>But in a dysfunctional organization where people are leaking things to promote their own agenda, and to engage in intra-staff turfwars, you may very well need someone to come in and “end that “sh*t.”
(You’re actually benefitting from something I normally charge a lot for!)
Your statement, in reality, couldn’t be more wrong. Does a drunk admit he’s a drunk when you first ask him? How about you? Are you going to be INSTANTLY persuaded by this post suggesting you are wrong? Of course not to both.
You can’t seriously believe that people in the WH with an ego the size of Alaska are going to just respond, “OK, since you said you were in charge, I’ll behave. No problem. All you had to do was get in my face. Was that so hard??”
Going into an organization, functioning or not, and being confrontational right off the bat is asking for not only trouble but disaster. Go back to you above — when you first read the first or second sentence I wrote, did you IMMEDIATELY think, “hey, this 1L guy knows what he’s talking about; man, telling me I was wrong is just the ticket. I’ll straighten up and go his way...?”
Hell no. You started thinking about how you were going to respond. THAT (or something similar) is how people react to someone coming in and “laying down the law,” so to speak. Use whatever trite phrase you want. They all fail. It took me a long time to learn this and when I adjusted my behavior in these sorts of pursuits, I got results that I was amazed with. I have clients who have had the same experience.
You didn’t answer the question I posed the other person: if someone gets in your face how are you going to respond? How do you think the WH staff is going to respond? If they’re leaking NOW they don’t have Trump’s best interests in mind. What makes you think a “I’m in charge” General is going to make them change that? Also, if this guy is “well known” by the “major players,” as you suggest, what is the point of the “I’m in charge” comment? (Again, IF it was reported accurately).
The General can better “end that shit” in the way I described above — by getting to know the staff as well as possible. Save the speeches for your kids.