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Microsoft AI chief gives it 18 months—for all white-collar work to be automated by AI

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LeadershipPower Sheet

Power Sheet: Does Donald Really Want to Be President? He Won’t Say

By
Geoff Colvin
Geoff Colvin
and
Ryan Derousseau
Ryan Derousseau
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By
Geoff Colvin
Geoff Colvin
and
Ryan Derousseau
Ryan Derousseau
Down Arrow Button Icon
July 8, 2016, 10:53 AM ET

It’s one of those moments when we’re overwhelmed by major news events with significant leadership angles: how a wide range of leaders are responding to the sniper attacks in Dallas and the video-recorded police shootings in Minnesota and Louisiana; the continuing fallout from FBI director James Comey’s decision not to recommend prosecution of Hillary Clinton; and the narrowing of the field for Britain’s next prime minister to two, Theresa May and Andrea Leadsom. They’re all important – and all getting saturation coverage in the media.

So today let’s look instead at instructive events that get crowded out of our attention at times like these:

–Alvin Toffler, author of Future Shock, died on Monday at 87, and his book looks remarkably prescient 46 years later. In 1970 he foresaw personal computers, the Internet, telecommuting, and much more that we take for granted but that seemed like airy fantasy at the time. New York Times columnist Farhad Manjoo recently re-read Toffler’s bestseller and was inspired to explain “Why We Need to Pick Up Alvin Toffler’s Torch.” His point: Toffler’s specialty, futurism, has fallen out of favor, and it needs to be revived as a serious, vitally important profession.

I can’t resist mentioning that Toffler was at one time a Fortune editor and columnist.

–Donald Trump’s deep game fascinates the political class. The question that won’t go away: Is he serious? More precisely, does he actually want to be president, and will he actually stay in the race through the election, and, if he wins, would he actually serve? Speculation has persisted among politicos for months that the answer to one or more of those questions is no. The latest theory springs from his refusal, in a recent interview, to deny that if elected, he might decline to serve. Probably nonsense, of course, except that with Trump, we’ve learned never to rule out anything.

–Stanley Gault, former CEO of Rubbermaid and Goodyear, died last week at 90, and anyone who admires leadership should know about him. After he lost the race to be CEO of General Electric in 1980 – Jack Welch won – he returned to his tiny home town of Wooster, Ohio, and took the helm of Rubbermaid, which his father co-founded in 1920. He quadrupled sales and turned this virtually invisible company into a paragon of strong management and performance. Incredibly, it was even No. 1 on Fortune’s list of Most Admired Companies in 1994 and 1995. He retired, then became chief of another Ohio company, Goodyear, which was in desperate trouble, and turned it around.

After failing to become GE’s chief, he could have faded away and been remembered as the guy who lost. Instead he did just the opposite.

-A now-former hedge fund manager gave a textbook demonstration of how not to behave as a leader. Moore Capital fired Brett Barna after he threw a party in the Hamptons last Sunday, announcing that “Mr. Barna’s personal judgment was inconsistent with the firm’s values.” The details are too extensive to relate here, but a flavor of what went on can be gathered from the owner of the $20-million house he rented for the blowout, who is preparing to sue Barna for trashing it, and who told the New York Post, “Brett was last seen on Sunday chugging Champagne with two midgets.”

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What We're Reading Today

Theranos CEO banned
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) is revoking Theranos' approval to operate and is banning CEO Elizabeth Holmes from running any lab for two years. The decision follows a CMS review of Theranos's Newark, California, lab, which Theranos says it is trying to bring into compliance. The company's operating license will remain valid for another 60 days, but Theranos will not conduct patient blood tests.  Fortune

Obama responds to Dallas shootings
Speaking from Warsaw, Poland, where he is meeting with NATO leaders, President Barack Obama said he was "horrified" to hear of the sniper attacks on police officers in Dallas, which killed five and wounded six. He has spoken with Dallas Mayor Mike Rawlings and has offered federal assistance in responding to the attacks, which targeted police officers at a peaceful protest over the fatal shootings of two black men by police. Dallas Morning News

State Department opens review of Clinton emails
While the Justice Department will not pursue charges against Hillary Clinton for her use of personal email as Secretary of State, the State Department will reopen an internal investigation. The review will look at mishandling of classified information by Clinton and her staff and could lead to sanctions, including restricting Clinton's security clearance. USA Today

Twitter targets NBA, MLS in deals
CEO Jack Dorsey, seeking growth, is reportedly in discussions with the NBA, MLS, and Turner Broadcasting to gain digital streaming rights to live sporting events. Twitter has already agreed to stream some NFL Thursday Night games this fall, but the company's lack of a subscription fee model could prevent some leagues from agreeing to a partnership. Re/Code

Building a Better Leader

Eco-friendly practices pay off
Researchers found that from 2000 to 2011, the performance of computer and electronics companies improved two years after eco-initiatives were begun. Kellogg Insight

More startups would survive if...
...they set aside time and resources to develop another big idea while pursuing their first one. Fortune

Just over half of small business owners...
...pay themselves a salary. If they don't, their books overstate their business's performance by excluding an important cost -- themselves. Business News Daily

Worth Considering

Trump plays coy when asked if he would step down...
...if he wins the presidency. In an interview with the New York Times, when asked about a theory that Donald Trump has no plans to become president if he wins, Trump said “I’ll let you know how I feel about it after it happens." His statement reinforces suspicions among some that he doesn't really want to be president. But of course the statement could be just another attempt to garner press attention. NYT

Viacom shareholder: Dauman "has to leave"
Famed fund manager Mario Gabelli, Viacom's second largest owner of voting shares after Sumner Redstone, says it's "a matter of when, not if" CEO Philippe Dauman will leave Viacom. Gabelli doesn't believe Dauman can win his battle with the Redstone family. While Gabelli has remained patient with Dauman through the battle over Redstone's trust, it seems he believes the CEO is out of options. Fortune

McDonald's takes a $235-million charge
The charge reflects anticipated costs of the company's planned headquarters move to Chicago in 2018 and increased franchising efforts. CEO Steve Easterbrook intends to refranchise 4,000 of McDonald's company-owned restaurants by 2018. Chicago Tribune

Up or Out

GoPro has named Lauren Zalaznick, former president of NBC's Bravo network, to its board.  Fortune

Fortune Reads and Videos

Pablo Escobar's brother tells Netflix to pay
Roberto Escobar wants $1 billion for rights to his family's story, which Netflix depicts in its show Narcos. Fortune

Amazon's Alexa to promote Prime Day deals
Amazon users can tap exclusive deals via Echo, but only if they ask "Alexa, what are your Prime Day deals?" Fortune

SnapChat sued by a parent claiming...
...that she wasn't properly warned that her 14-year-old child would be shown inappropriate content. Fortune

Obamacare's smoking problem
Insurance under the Affordable Care Act charges smokers up to 50% more for coverage. But instead of encouraging smokers to quit, it's encouraging them not to buy insurance. Fortune

Happy Birthday

Marc Andreessen, venture capitalist and creator of Netscape, turns 45 on Saturday.  Biography

Former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld turns 84 tomorrow.  Biography

Share Today's Power Sheet: 
http://fortune.com/newsletter/powersheet/

Produced by Ryan Derousseau
@ryanderous
powersheet@newsletters.fortune.com
About the Authors
Geoff Colvin
By Geoff ColvinSenior Editor-at-Large
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Geoff Colvin is a senior editor-at-large at Fortune, covering leadership, globalization, wealth creation, the infotech revolution, and related issues.

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By Ryan Derousseau
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