Enron's Ken Lay dies of a heart attack - could he / should he have been a CEO blogger?

Was it a broken heart? No matter what part the Enron founder played in his company's spectacular  and painful collapse - I find this very sad. He was only 64. I'm sure there are some many who will say it's his just reward. [Search "ken lay" on Technorati.]

Would it have helped Ken if he had had a blog to think on, vent on, converse on -- connect on. Would he have felt less isolated? Would he have come around to see others' points of view in the give and take of discussion??

OK, wishful naive thinking on my part. But it raises a question which I predict is *not* going to go away.

Can a CEO (or an ex-CEO) pen a meaningful blog?

I think the answer is yes. More thoughts TK...

[via Canada's email goddess Judy Gombita]

Useful Link

List of CEO and senior exec blogs

Technorati: ken lay kenneth lay enron ceo bloggers

Comments

[Igor M. (BizMord Marketing Blog)]

I don't care how bad the guy was and how many people he Scr*wed up, I still feel bad for him dying at the age of only 64.

Those that allow themselves to say that he deserved death are ignorant fools.

In this thing we call life, we all play a part of our selves (we are the actors and directors of our life). Let's not drag death into our acting career as this is something we can't play nor can we direct.

[Megan Mahan]

You pose an interesting question, Debbie. It actually reminded me of a similar situation [albeit on a much smaller scale] of former Louisiana insurance commissioner, Jim Brown, who spent six months in prison for lying to the FBI [he was also charged with 57 counts of insurance fraud]. Following his sentence, Brown opened himself up to the public though his website [www.jimbrownla.com] and blog.

"Telling it like it is" has been his motto on the website and it seems to be working for him. He's also given interviews, confronting past allegations and bad behavior. I have to say that when it comes to making mistakes, openly admitting transgressions seems like constructive way to move on, and, hopefully, to gain back some respect from the public.

In the case of Ken Lay however, I don't know that any amount of blogging would have helped his public persona. One thing's for certain, he would have had to moderate his blog comments very carefully.

[Brian]

I dont think many people are going to lose sleep about Ken Lay.
There had been some celebrating at his recent personal tragedy, and with the pain he has caused others, many feel this circumstance still has not paid for his debt to all those he has ruined..

[Paul Chaney]

One thing is for sure, if he did blog, no way could he have had comments turned on!

To revel in someone else's demise is petty. You know the old adage, don't judge someone until you've walked a mile in their shoes.

Here's another just for the record..."We judge others by their actions and ourselves by our intentions."

[Zane Safrit]

Ken Lay. Blogger. Funny. Funny not in a ha-ha way. Funny in a dark way.

An early commenter said he shold have left the comments turned off. Yes, he should. But that's the whole point he shouldn't have been, couldn't have been, a blogger.

Blogging's about having a conversation; an open and honest conversation. And it's about accountability.

I think those were two areas, honesty and accountability, that Enron, under his leadership, had unique ideas, ideas contrary to 'common folk'. It's his leadership in those areas at Enron that precipitated his time in the witness stand.

So...Ken Lay, blogger?...Funny.