“Wokeness” has oozed into every facet of American society. From education to entertainment, Americans are regularly taught that equality of outcome trumps opportunity, whiteness is bad, and America itself is even worse.
Even the C-suite has gone “woke,” reading the left-wing tea leaves on social media to score cheap political points. BlackRock CEO Larry Fink—a longtime fossil-fuel investor and supporter of the Chinese Communist Party—is now determined to end climate change through “the decarbonizing of the global economy.” According to WarnerMedia CEO Jason Kilar, his company’s black employees “wake up every day and have fear,” as “their children cringe with anxiety.” Meanwhile, Google executives are leveraging “darker skin tones” to sell Pixel phones—with a dose of body positivity.
When will enough be enough? Haven’t people learned that woke CEOs exploit wokeness for profit?
After then-Nike CEO Mark Parker signed off on the infamous Colin Kaepernick advertising campaign, the Left cheered his name. Little did liberals know that the Kaepernick ad, urging people to “believe in something,” would net Nike more than $6 billion.
I’m naturally an optimist, but increasingly cynical in today’s political climate. Even so, the recent evolution of the “woke CEO” is still jarring. I’ve been a CEO for over a decade, helping start or fund dozens of businesses small and large. The appeal of the C-suite has always been the no-nonsense approach to business—add value, or else.
The boardroom’s bottom-line mentality has been a hallmark of capitalism for decades. And it has created immense wealth for all parties involved—from C-suiters themselves to the general public. In any given year, S&P 500 gains create trillions of dollars in equity wealth for investors. Last year was no different, with the S&P 500 posting a nearly 27 percent gain.
Through wokeness, we’re “fixing” a system that isn’t even broken. A woke CEO—if that person is even truly woke—contradicts capitalism. The most successful business leaders know not to wade into hot-button political issues that inherently create division and marginalize entire consumer segments. To quote Tesla CEO Elon Musk, “Wokeness is divisive, exclusionary, and hateful.”
While Nike’s Kaepernick campaign appealed to liberal shoppers, how many untold consumers switched to Adidas or Reebok because of it? How many more grew frustrated with the politicization of everything?
If the scourge of wokeness continues sweeping through boardrooms, businesses will suffer. So will the stock market and the U.S. economy writ large. America’s job creators will lose out on human talent that is unfairly punished, such as former Levi’s Brand President Jennifer Sey. After daring to oppose COVID-related school shutdowns, Sey was hounded by the social media mob and eventually forced out by her colleagues at Levi’s. And Levi’s lost because of it: Open-mindedness sparks innovation in corporate America, whereas intolerance shuts it down.
As CEOs embrace wokeness, there will be more casualties like Sey. There will be a brain drain in corporate America. And, eventually, companies have to count people like me out of the C-suite. We may be forced to recruit a cadre of anti-woke CEOs, who will refocus the boardroom on what truly matters—business and the bottom line.
Wokeness may be in, but the anti-woke CEO will win in the long run. Most Americans don’t want business mixed with politics. The radical Left may believe in politicizing everything, but more than 60 percent of Americans believe it is inappropriate for companies to engage in political speech. While many CEOs enjoy wearing a woke hat, barely one-third of consumers agree that corporate executives should speak out on social issues.
Public opinion will prevail, and public opinion is anti-woke. The CEOs who realize it will be the most successful leaders in corporate America.
Harrison Rogers is founder and CEO of Arizona-based HJR Global, and a serial entrepreneur and angel investor.