I know a lot of us have had to watch the film "Enron, The Smartest Guys in the Room" throughout our college careers at Illinois State University. Every time I watch this film, either in class or in my spare time, I am always wondering the same thing at the end. I wonder what ever happened to Lou Pai? I plan to research this further, but at the moment I would like to turn all followers of this blog's attention to an article written by Madeleine Brand titled, "Lou Pai, Enron's Elusive Mystery Man." In the article, Madeleine discusses some of the things that drove Lou Pai to his leadership position. The main argument for his rise was his intelligence. Ultimately, the article states that he built Enron with his market model for the deregulation of gas.
However, some of his personality traits and the things he did were not consistent with the qualities and expectations of a leader. The article states that he was very quiet, failing to even make eye contact or speak to others in the elevators. How might he have become a leader at Enron when extraversion is seen as the most prevalent personality trait in leaders? He also consistently went to strip clubs, which could deteriorate the image of the company. Were the multiple stakeholder groups of the company aware of his personal leisure activities?
I will continue to explore the whereabouts of Lou Pai in this blog. I am very interested to see if his "leadership" traits have been applied to his current lifestyle practices.
Below I have posted a link to the article in question.
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5411422
Thanks,
Justin Fisher
I think that it will be interesting to see where he has ended up and what he has made of himself. Since he was so intelligent did he find new ways to make easy money? Or did he learn from his mistakes? I also am interested in knowing, after such a drastic change in life which leadership skills he still uses in his life now.
ReplyDeleteLiz Ramirez
After reading this article, it seems like Lou Pai is the exact opposite of an authentic leader. Since he practiced poor ethics, it is evident that he was not a genuine or “real” leader. However, when looking at the intrapersonal perspectives of an authentic leader, Lou Pai does possess one of the characteristics, but in a negative way. Lou Pai does base his actions on his values. From this article it is clear that he values a poor image such as going to strip clubs. This value is shown through his unethical actions at Enron. He is a very unauthentic leader and I also wonder where he is today.
ReplyDeletePosted by: Genise Logston
Are you still actively pursuing Where is Lou Pai and what is he doing now? I am a horse trainer in Wellington Fl and have a law suit filed against he and his wife for owing me money. I am looking for information to help me with my suit
ReplyDelete