Chitra Ragavan

Executive advisor and leadership coach to CEOs | Former advisor and executive @Palantir | Founder, Positive Instigation Coaching Program | @NPR @USNews

[Chitra Ragavan @Chitra_Ragavan]

@BlueBoxDave @AsraNomani Congrats @AsraNomani! And for your recent piece. Great reportage as always! What you do is so complicated, but you make it look effortless. You have been ahead of the curve for decades and now your work looks so timely. It’s a lot of shoe leather!

[Chitra Ragavan @Chitra_Ragavan]

Great piece of reporting by @AsraNomani on @CrackerBarrel’s misguided rebranding efforts and the giant blowback.

[Asra Nomani @AsraNomani]

🚨EXCLUSIVE. She knew.

@CrackerBarrel CEO Julie Felss Masino and her board ignored warnings last year from investor Sardar Biglari that her "strategic transformation plan" and rebrand was "obvious folly."

🧵has the receipts from our new @FoxNews @FoxBusiness investigation.

[Chitra Ragavan @Chitra_Ragavan]

In my debut column in @JewishJournal, I study the subtext of President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Gaza trolling of Hamas — now with the Trump Gaza AI video — and speak with journalist and propaganda expert @AsraNomani. She tells me that "propaganda porn” is Hamas’ latest weapon and that it reveals the strength of the Hamas Inc. brand. I write about the reality of the militant presence in Gaza and show the dangers of Mar-a-Gaza spreading Hamas Inc. globally. https://t.co/YxS6JU1qGE

[Asra Nomani @AsraNomani]

As Trump trolls Hamas with a "Trump Gaza" video, @JewishJournal Editor @DavidSuissaJJ publishes a brilliant column by journalist @Chitra_Ragavan: "Trump’s Mar-a-Gaza vision faces one roadblock: the Hamas Inc. brand that’s survived the destruction." https://t.co/QM5Kix8nL5

[Asra Nomani @AsraNomani]

As Trump trolls Hamas with a "Trump Gaza" video, @JewishJournal Editor @DavidSuissaJJ publishes a brilliant column by journalist @Chitra_Ragavan: "Trump’s Mar-a-Gaza vision faces one roadblock: the Hamas Inc. brand that’s survived the destruction." https://t.co/QM5Kix8nL5

[Chitra Ragavan @Chitra_Ragavan]

As a lifelong Democrat, I’m also a first-generation Indian-American from near the hometown of Vice President Kamala Harris’s mother in South India. I’m invested in the VP’s success.

Over the past few months, in my writings, including my @thedailybeast op-ed earlier this week, I’ve given Harris and her team tough advice—some might call it unvarnished guidance, including on style—to help her succeed in this asymmetric war of power perception, to win from zero, to go from underdog to victor. In my newest piece, I explain: That’s not sexism. It’s strategy.

[Chitra Ragavan @Chitra_Ragavan]

Thank you to the @thedailybeast and its thoughtful editors and readers for the critical conversation on how VP Kamala Harris can leverage style to win. In a new column, I write about why these are conversations are not sexist, but strategic.

[The Daily Beast @thedailybeast]

The youthful, vibrant and telegenic Harris can (and must) use style and semiotics as weapons in her communications arsenal. The youthful, vibrant and telegenic Harris can (and must) use style and semiotics as weapons in her communications arsenal.
https://t.co/pjENPcHj5N

[Chitra Ragavan @Chitra_Ragavan]

As a leadership coach, I appreciate that some people believe it’s sexist to comment on a woman’s style, while others create a false equivalency between male candidates and female candidates. But the truth is that psychologists recognize that women are in a double bind when it comes to how they are perceived.

Vice President Kamala Harris also runs into the so-called warmth-competence matrix that puts women leaders in this double bind: If women are perceived as warm, they are also seen as incompetent. And vice-versa. One way for Harris to overcome the double jeopardy of that matrix is by weaponizing style to communicate the subtext of one attribute (warmth), even as she directly expresses the other (competence).

Many fashion brands today are revolutionizing women’s pantsuits for the modern-day executive, with feminine pleats, vibrant colors, textures and accents that embody warmth–and power.

Until Hillary Clinton came so close to clinching the White House, and Harris today aspires to get that unfinished job done, women have always been stuck in a supporting role in the White House. They’ve tried to raise their visibility in two ways: adopting warm and fuzzy portfolios and using style as their vehicle to make their voices heard in their secondary roles, sometimes to express their unhappiness or independence, or even to make a political statement.

Jackie Kennedy is perhaps the most lauded for her elegant and understated Parisian couture. Melania Trump, a former glamorous model and billionaire’s wife known for her “opulent” suits and bold fashion choices, made a global ruckus with the $39 Zara jacket she wore to a Texas migrant shelter emblazoned on the back with a loud, all-caps, “I REALLY DON’T CARE, DO U?” which led to endless speculation: ABOUT WHAT?

Equally intriguing was the pink “pussy bow” blouse she wore after womanizing allegations against her husband hit the headlines. Melania Trump’s sometimes muddled messaging style sensibility to communicate her distance from the hoi polloi or refusal to adhere to conventional wisdom is now back in the news as she embarks on her book tour for her memoir.

Hillary Clinton, a.k.a. “pantsuit aficionado,” has wielded feminist white pantsuits to harken the suffragist movement at inflection points in her career and failed bid for the White House, a symbol picked up by many women attending the Democratic Convention this August in an ode to women’s suffrage.

As First Lady, Michelle Obama made a singular statement communicating relatability, affordability, and patriotism with her support of U.S brands like J. Crew and the American designers whose careers she launched. And she created a buzz at the DNC with her stern black pantsuit.

“Former first lady Michelle Obama's suit sets the internet on fire,” was NPR’s headline describing the response to her attire. Vanessa Friedman of The New York Times dedicated a column to the “militaristic” suit. “It was both understated and edgy, kind of armorial,” she wrote, adding, “This was going to be a fight, her tunic and her speech suggested, and everyone should gear themselves up to get out the vote.”

Style plays such a key role in political messaging that the Washington Post’s Robin Givhan even won a Pulitzer Prize in 2006 for her body of work in fashion criticism.

Fashion and style are difficult conversations, especially for women, because it feels sexist and superficial. To ignore the importance of it is to do women a disservice. Psychological studies have shown that female politicians are at a tremendous disadvantage in the warmth-competence matrix.

So, it is critical to have these conservations to boost the power and impact of women as leaders – and help them meet their goals. When used strategically and tactically, style can be a powerful weapon to help women win.

That’s my message to Vice President Harris, who will long be a fixture in Democratic politics. And it’s my message to all female politicians and aspiring leaders.

[Chitra Ragavan @Chitra_Ragavan]

Former Pres. Obama just complimented Tim Walz on “those flannel shirts he wears” as a symbol of his authenticity. What about VP Kamala Harris? I write @DailyBeast: “Kamala Harris is Well-Suited for President–but Poorly Dressed.” Read my tips for the VP to power up her pantsuits.

[The Daily Beast @thedailybeast]

OPINION | Amid the biggest political battle of her life, Harris has failed to leverage one of the most powerful communication tools for female leaders: her sense of style, writes @Chitra_Ragavan.

https://t.co/ajVudVQ7LL

[The Daily Beast @thedailybeast]

OPINION | Amid the biggest political battle of her life, Harris has failed to leverage one of the most powerful communication tools for female leaders: her sense of style, writes @Chitra_Ragavan.

https://t.co/ajVudVQ7LL

[Chitra Ragavan @Chitra_Ragavan]

@Cliff_Banks is always ahead of the curve: https://t.co/iHaOSlOQdl

[Chitra Ragavan @Chitra_Ragavan]

In my new @TheHill @HillOpinion column, I argue that Kamala Harris must flex her national security muscles. By drawing parallels between 9/11 and 10/7, Harris can frame her message on security in a powerful way that resonates deeply with Americans. https://t.co/oIlnQ767rW

[Chitra Ragavan @Chitra_Ragavan]

@AsraNomani Why can’t American leaders get this most basic fact right @AsraNomani? Ignorance or arrogance?

[Chitra Ragavan @Chitra_Ragavan]

@AsraNomani @JewishJournal @DavidSuissaJJ @orlipeter @BarstoolOSU @chien_kwok @AartiTikoo @YasMohammedxx @JTIP_State @USDOL @DPearlProject Another great piece @AsraNomani!

[Chitra Ragavan @Chitra_Ragavan]

You can always count on my dear friend @PachoSantosC to get to the heart of the matter and speak his mind on things.

Pacho is also incredibly courageous, with an amazing personal story of his kidnapping ordeal by the notorious late Colombian drug kingpin, Pablo Escobar.

You can hear Pacho’s story on my leadership podcast, When It Mattered, link below. You don’t want to miss this great narrative about Pacho and the role he played at a key moment in Colombian history, and why great journalism matters.

https://t.co/zHqZOcIDpt

[Pacho Santos @PachoSantosC]

Where are the @nytimes @WSJ or @CNN Do your work and stop using ChatGPT for reporting.
Dispatches from Springfield, Ohio – The story in this town is not about cats or dogs. It’s about mules. It’s a twin tragedy of migrant workers from Haiti exploited and locals from Springfield marginalized. https://t.co/EzrIypOaPH @

[Chitra Ragavan @Chitra_Ragavan]

@Cliff_Banks It’s their “Odyssey” to adulthood 😂

[Chitra Ragavan @Chitra_Ragavan]

@Cliff_Banks Will convey message from his beloved uncle :)

[Chitra Ragavan @Chitra_Ragavan]

Ha, ha. Good question @Cliff_Banks! My college-age son, as you know, would strongly disagree that it’s cool, having inherited his dad’s and is having to drive it on campus, much to his chagrin. We did an informal survey for fun one day and found so few on the highway, compared to SUVs. Which was his argument to us to get him a cooler car. But to no avail. To us, the minivan is cool because it’s paid for! Anyway, he is stuck with driving it for a bit. A good lesson in humility for a teen!

[Chitra Ragavan @Chitra_Ragavan]

Thanks for the kind words @AsraNomani. You’re doing a valuable public service as the elections draw close by filtering out the noise of the political campaigns, the overheated rhetoric, the misinformation, and the downright lies.

And you are thwacking your way through this dense thicket and asking the simple question that all great street reporters ask: “What’s the real story here?”

And when the reporter does her job as you have here, the answer should always be revelatory, as it is here.

Your dispatches about the REAL story of Springfield, Ohio and all the small towns like it, will help your readers make informed decisions both about this story and what it symbolizes at this moment in time about who we are as a people and as a society.

That’s what all good journalists must do, inform and educate. And you’ve more than succeeded here with both those goals.

Kudos on the great scoop!

[Asra Nomani @AsraNomani]

Thank you so much @Chitra_Ragavan for being such an inspiration as a journalist and thought leader! You make my reporting here in Springfield, Ohio, sharp! Here is me doing what you teach: getting the court documents!