This is my read of the situation.
Before April, 2008, David Cullen, J.P. Cullen CEO, like most WMC board members, was a marginal participant in Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce (WMC). He was pleased that WMC was committed to working for Wisconsin business. By serving on the WMC board he was helping his state and his community.
He was busy running his own company and was not a leader in WMC which meant that he 'went along' on most issues. However, he did not like, as a matter of personal conviction, the tone or tenor of the ads WMC ran against Clifford, Butler, etc. He also questioned the wisdom of the actions - what if a candidate WMC slammed was to win elected office?
After the Louis Butler defeat, I speculate the Judy Faulkner called him and discussed the matter.
I have absolutely no knowledge about what transpired. I come to the following conclusions based on my knowledge of Judy and my one meeting with David Cullen.
Judy was disgusted with the WMC ads and decided not to sit still. She told Cullen her feelings. My guess is that she never threatened him. It is not her style.
In fact, she does even tell people how to solve a problem. Her technique, reflected by her management style, is to have someone work through a problem on their own; the most she will do is help the person make sure that they have done a thorough analysis. Her style is to question, not to 'boss.'
My guess is that Dave Cullen, already wishing his business was not associated with the WMC attack ads, said to himself, "I am not comfortable with my role in WMC, I do not spend a lot of time on its agenda, I have too much to do here at Cullen. I do not want people to hold me responsible for these attacks which I did not author and which I do not approve. The best thing is to leave the group and move on. My WMC membership is not helping WMC or my company. How do I manage that so I do not hurt Cullen, Epic or WMC?"
The result was Cullen's resignation from WMC and followed by Rick Esenberg's conclusion as to why Cullen left. Rick looked at the multitude of explanations and motivation about the Cullen resignation from WMC and concluded, in an incredibly flawed analysis, that they were mutually exclusive.
He never imagined, what I suspect is the truth. Cullen while exiting WMC do so motivated by a distaste for the issue ad campaign but also, did not want to hurt WMC since he believed in the core mission: to help Wisconsin business.
Cullen found a position that met all of his needs: It disassociated his business from the WMC issue ads, he did his best not to hurt WMC, and he looked out for the best interest of his company.
Cullen is probably busy running his company and using whatever free time he has, doing something constructive for Wisconsin.
What the heck does this mean?? "Cullen while exiting WMC do so motivated by a distaste for the issue ad campaign....."
Posted by: | July 11, 2008 at 12:33 PM