At a time when our daily ‘diet’ seems to consist of
ever increasing portions of sleazy, licentious,
blatantly illegal, or just plain ole irresponsible
behavior, a scream of “enough!” is welling up inside
many of us. That is particularly the case when the
bad behavior is associated with those in leadership
roles...those whom we are supposed to respect and
be guided by, if not follow.
The names are all too familiar, and answering to titles
like Reverend, Congressman, or CEO, they derive
equally from government (at all levels,) industry, and
religious institutions. We won’t repeat the names
here, in the interest of keeping your last meal where
it belongs. You know who they are.
Regardless of the individual or offense, things seem
to follow a fairly predictable path: Screw up (usually
in direct conflict with the platitudes one mouths on a
regular basis), get caught, deny, lawyer up, check in
to a rehab center, and wait for the spotlight to shift
elsewhere.
While no one has a right to expect leaders to be
perfect, we do have a right to insist that they not
abuse or dishonor the special trust that is placed in
those who accept the mantle of leadership. Trust, for
example that they will always attempt to do the right
thing, even in the absence of guidelines. Trust that
you will not forget the lesson, probably taught by
your mother, about the difference between your stuff
and other people’s stuff. Trust that you will have the
fortitude to, as appropriate, subordinate your
personal interests to those of others, and the
organization. Trust that you will not only not use the
power of your position to prey on or push around
others, but that you will use that power to protect
and defend them.
Whether one is a coach, girl scout leader, preacher,
President, or 3rd shift supervisor, if you accept a
position of leadership, you should be held to a higher
standard, period. That is something we should
regularly make clear and reinforce in our own
organizations. While we’re at it, let’s also make clear
differentiation between the law as a standard, and
the ‘right thing.’ Someone said, very aptly we think,
that, “the law is hardly a lofty standard.” More to our
point, perhaps, is the Scandinavian proverb that
admonishes us to, “beware of those who always step
over the lowest part of the fence.”
Unfortunately, there may come a time when a person
in a leadership position simply cannot continue
because they have reached a point of ‘gross
leadership failure.’ In short, owing to often subtle,
but systemic breakdown in trust, they lose the
confidence of those who would follow them. Since
authority is granted by the led, this condition must
not persist, as it will soon lead to greatly diminished
performance and capability, and ultimately,
breakdown of authority itself.
This week’s bloodbath via the national mid-term
election in the U.S. was a partial unleashing of the
aforementioned scream, and provides something of an
object lesson. Unlike those who are occasionally
caught
with their hands directly in the cookie jar (or
elsewhere) and ejected immediately, this week, a lot
of people who were in power in the federal
government were turned out because of less
egregious but equally devastating offenses, like:
Persistent unwillingness to listen to subordinates,
superficial communications, passing the buck,
indecision in the face of known misconduct, and the
like.
While we don’t especially enjoy revisiting this rather
unpleasant process, let’s see if we can learn
something from it. At a minimum, let’s all spend an
extra minute in front of the mirror making sure that
the example we set for the folks in our organization
measures up, and then, having done that, remind
them that character still counts.