Clinton's staff gaff sends message to corporate CEOs

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton showed great aplomb in her globally embarrassing gaff with Russian counterpart Foreign Minister Sergei V. Lavrov in Ankara, Turkey, Friday (3-6-09). Even so, the embarrassing incident speaks worlds about the importance of competent support staff for C-Suite executives in government and private enterprise. (Sergei also appears as Sergey. The Financial Times of London uses Sergei; The New York Times uses Sergey.)

Before the world’s media, Secretary Clinton told Minister Lavrov that her staff “worked hard” to get precisely the right Russian word for the American English term “reset,” or to begin anew. (The wrong word that was used is "Peregruzka.")

The word was important because it was a play on the office supply store Staples' “Easy Button,” and was intended by Clinton to be the continuation of Vice President Biden’s previous commitment to reset previously contentious American relations with Russia, and to move forward with a more cordial tone.

However, when asked about the correctness of the Russian term, Lavrov told Clinton that “you got it wrong.”  The Russian word Clinton staffers selected for the Secretary’s version of the Easy Button actually meant “overloaded” or “overcharged.”

The two laughed off the gaff and Clinton later suggested that “overloaded” might be a correct description for the work level their two governments will find in front of them.

This embarrassment should’t have too much made of it. Mistakes happen, even to the most well intentioned individuals. However, the source of the incident does speak to American short comings in understanding non-American environments. Where were the native-speakers of Russian to double fact-check exact meanings — to say nothing of the nuanced meanings — of the word?

The incident reminds us, once again, of a mentor who believed firmly in the adage that, “if I can’t trust you with the small things, how can I trust you with the big ones?”

Credibility is built on what one does, and doesn’t do; on attention to detail; on the ability to move swiftly, deftly and accurately. This incident will pass and be largely forgotten, as it should be. But the lingering questions remain: how much attention to detail do American leaders devote behind the scenes and how much expertise is available in Washington to understand the cultures, customs and languages of our allies — and enemies?

To optimize business effectiveness, the same goes for CEOs — and their relationships with critical stakeholders.