Op-Ed: The Wright Turn—Navigating America’s Energy Tightrope

When Middle East tensions stoked fears of spiking oil prices, President Trump’s call for “Drill, Baby, Drill” put his Energy Secretary, Chris Wright, in a delicate spot. A former oil and gas CEO and frac pioneer, Wright saluted the directive and by the end of the day, crude dropped 9%.

If only it was that easy. Wright and oil and gas producers know the reality is thornier.

Energy companies, accountable to shareholders, prioritize economics over output, hedging bets in a volatile market. Supply and demand, not government nudges, dictate production.

Wright, alongside Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, had overseen a 20% drop in oil prices since taking office—despite recent increases—a win for consumers and a defiance of historical trends tied to Persian Gulf conflicts.

Yet, this success comes with grumbles from producers, leaving Wright to balance the president’s push for lower pump prices with the hard truths of market dynamics.

Wright’s leadership in the frac revolution helped unshackle the U.S. from Middle East oil dependence, granting unprecedented energy independence. This shift bolstered national security, freeing U.S. foreign policy from oil-driven constraints and fostering geopolitical agility past administrations only dreamed of.

Behind closed doors, Wright underscores this to his boss: Energy security is national security.

But CEOs must chase value, not volume.

Caught between the president’s consumer-focused rhetoric and the industry’s bottom line, Wright treads carefully, leveraging his MIT-honed expertise to steer a pragmatic course that keeps America’s energy future on solid ground.

In a town overflowing with soundbites and under-delivery, Wright is one of the most consequential figures in President Trump’s Cabinet.

But Wright doesn’t shout for attention—he’s quietly getting things done. In just over 100 days, Wright has set off a political chain reaction that could redefine how America powers itself for generations.

It’s no surprise, then, that the Trump team keeps putting him out front—when you have a Cabinet member actually producing results, you don’t hide him. You hand him the microphone.

Call it what it is: a nuclear renaissance. Under his leadership, the Department of Energy recently announced a nuclear energy pilot program to expedite the testing and deployment of advanced nuclear reactors. Testifying before lawmakers, Wright noted just a handful of notable nuclear initiatives—fast-tracking approvals for small modular reactors (SMRs) and clearing the bureaucratic sludge stalling our nuclear future.

But that’s just the opening chapter. He’s cut red tape on oil and gas permitting, pulled the plug on questionable green energy loans, reignited LNG export development and begun planning for the energy demands of artificial intelligence—yes, even the robots are grateful.

Wright is that rarest of creatures in D.C.—a leader who doesn’t confuse motion with progress.

While others play politics with your electricity bill, he’s lowering it.

And for once, the energy industry has a secretary who knows what a drilling rig smells like—and doesn’t need a pollster to tell him what Americans actually need.

Chris Wright is becoming to energy policy what Dan Yergin has been to energy history.

While most political leaders are obsessed with being seen, Wright’s secret sauce is his ability to “see”—himself, his team and the broader energy system. In a capital city addicted to ego and short-term spin, Wright’s superpower is self-awareness. And that changes everything.

But if you think his impact stops in Washington, D.C., think again. Before arriving in the capital, Wright founded the Bettering Human Lives Foundation to tackle one of the most overlooked humanitarian crises of our time: global energy poverty.

Two billion people still cook with wood and dung. Every year, over three million die from the toxic smoke—more than AIDS, tuberculosis, malaria and cholera combined.

So, while climate elites jet off to the next COP summit in Brazil to warn of a hypothetical apocalypse in 2100, Wright asks a more pressing question: Where is the global summit for the children dying today because they lack access to affordable, reliable energy?

His propane cookstove initiative has sparked a global movement. No press tour. No hashtags. Just lives saved—and reduced emissions.

Wright, an engineer, entrepreneur and former CEO of Liberty Energy, is no product of the typical government mold. With a commanding presence, he is a Billy Graham-like energy evangelist preaching the truth that “energy is life” and that access to energy reshapes destinies.

And unlike so many who bend themselves to fit Washington, Wright has simply brought more of his true self to the job.

Self-awareness isn’t a soft skill—it’s a survival trait. Wright is not afraid to admit failure. That ability to look inward—rare as a bipartisan handshake—has transformed how he leads. Teams trust him not because he’s flawless, but because he’s real. A grown-up in a city of performers.

In a capital saturated with projection and posturing, Wright offers something almost revolutionary: clarity.

Washington is desperate for leaders who don’t just fill rooms—but who “read” them. Leadership blind spots aren’t minor flaws; they’re ticking time bombs. Consider our 45th and 46th presidents, each branded a “threat to democracy” for quite varied reasons, yet both underutilizing the power of self-awareness.

One appeared unaware—or unwilling to acknowledge—that he was no longer fit for the job, his presidency propped up by aides wielding the autopen while anointing a candidate without a single primary vote.

The other failed to grasp the gravity of his rhetoric on Jan. 6, 2021, missing a crucial chance to show remorse—and soften the very narrative used against him.

From the Oval Office to Wall Street and the financial collapse of 2008 to the near meltdown in Silicon Valley when Silicon Valley Bank imploded, the lesson is the same: When leaders can’t see themselves clearly, the rest of us often pay the price.

But Wright is different. He gains influence not by dominating a room, but by knowing exactly who he is—and what he isn’t. He doesn’t see leadership as being “above” others, but “among” them.

At a time when public trust in institutions is decaying, Wright isn’t trying to win news cycles or Twitter debates.

He is trying to future-proof America’s energy grid and bring affordable power to those who need it most—at home and across the globe. He’s showing us that self-awareness isn’t just a personal virtue. It’s public leadership. It’s strategic infrastructure.

Washington doesn’t need more noise. It needs more clarity. And despite the president’s drumbeat for more drilling, in Chris Wright, he may have just tapped a new supply.

Les Csorba is a partner in Heidrick & Struggles’ Houston office and a member of the CEO and board of directors practice, focusing on the energy industry. His book, “AWARE: The Power of Seeing Yourself Clearly,” will be published Aug. 19 and is available for pre-order on Amazon.com. He can be reached at lcsorba@heidrick.com.