With Tesla stock at over $880, Musk is now worth $195 billion. That’s $10 billion more than Jeff Bezos.
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Glossary
- ho-hum – boring or ordinary
- pitch-perfect – striking exactly the right note or tone
- stock split – when a company divides the existing shares of its stock into multiple new shares to boost the stock’s liquidity
- to overstate – to exaggerate
- whim – liking, or fondness especially one that does not last long
- to rail against – to criticize severly
- bad-mouthing – criticizing someone/something in a very unpleasant way
- nefarious – extremely wicked or villainous
- doom – terrible fate
- to clip sb’s wings – to restrict one’s full potential
- goat – a person who is blamed for causing a failure or defeat, esp. in a team sports competition
WORD FORMATION: Change the word in CAPITALS to fill in the blanks.
- When Tesla Owners of Silicon Valley tweeted the news, Musk’s (RESPOND) …….. was just six words.
- You see, he knows just how random and (CHANGE)…….. this bit of good news is, as is any news related to his company’s share price.
- As for Musk, It’s difficult to overstate just how new his (MEMBER) ………. is among the world’s (WEALTH)……….. people.
- In other words, he’s absorbed a bit of (WISE ) ……… every business leader should remember.
- If a soaring stock price, or hitting a business goal, or getting an award makes you feel like you’re on top of the world, you may come crashing down when you miss your goals, or lose a big customer, or face public (CRITICIZE) ………. .
ANSWERS: 1. response; 2. changeable; 3. membership; wealthiest; 4. wisdom; 5. criticism
Practice Makes Perfect
Replace the words in bold with their synonyms (provided in Glossary)
If necessary, go back to: https://www.inc.com/minda-zetlin/elon-musk-worlds-richest-man-tweet-response-emotional-intelligence.html
When Tesla Owners of Silicon Valley tweeted the news, Musk’s response was just six words, “How strange,” followed by “Well, back to work …” That might seem like a pretty 1. dull reaction to becoming the world’s richest person. But it was a 2. masterful answer, and a useful lesson in emotional intelligence for every leader.
It’s probably not hard for him to remember the days when he slept in the office — not so he could spend the maximum time at work, as is often the case these days, but because he 3. didn’t have money to rent an apartment to go home to.
He also knows just how quickly fortunes can change, especially when they’re tied to the 4. caprice of the financial markets. Over the past few years, he’s 5. rebuked short-sellers (investors who bet on a company’s share price going down) for bad-mouthing Tesla, perhaps in a 6. dishonest attempt to make a quick buck.
He’s seen legitimate stock analysts question Tesla’s prospects and predict its 7. catastrophe over and over — one such firm just publicly confessed that it got things very, very wrong.
In other words, he’s absorbed a bit of wisdom every business leader should remember. Some days you’re the hero and other days you’re the 8. one who’s blamed and it’s a lot smarter to ignore those ups and downs in what people (and markets) think of you.
ANSWERS: 1. ho-hum; 2. pitch-perfect; 3. couldn’t afford; 4. whim; 5. railed against; 6. nefarious; 7. doom; 8. goat
Discuss:
- Who/what springs to mind when you hear the word ‘leader’?
- What leadership quality do you most value?
- Does one automatically have leadership or must he/she learn it?
- Is there place for bullying in good leadership?
- Have you ever been in positions of leadership?
Explore it more to create your own teaching-learning experience!
Empathy: A Priority For Business Leaders In 2021
Read:
https://www.forbes.com/empathy-a-priority-for-business-leaders-in-2021
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