I'm irritated and I'm going to tell you why.

I've heard some really dumb things over the years about leadership. Things like, "Gossip is good because it can be a source of information to the leader," when in fact gossip is insidious and generally inaccurate anyway. And, "I know I use fear and intimidation, but that's just my style." No, your "style" is just bad leadership.

And then this morning I'm reading along in my Chicago Sun Times on-line sports section and I come across this gem that I have heard many times before.

I should set this up by telling you that the Chicago White Sox just hired Robin Ventura as their new manager and they are now forming his coaching staff. Buddy Bell is mentoring Ventura in the forming of this staff and Mark Parent is someone they're looking at as Ventura's bench coach-his right hand man.  

I'm quoting directly from an article by Daryl Van Schouwen:

"Parent, who managed the Philadelphia Phillies' Class AA team at Reading this past season, will bring an authoritative 'old school' presence along with an imposing 6-5, 230-plus-pounds frame. As part of Bell's plan, Parent would bring a tough-cop balance to Ventura's good-cop role."

Italics mine. That's what irritates me!

Good cop/bad cop may work with real cops as they interrogate a suspect and try to keep him or her off balance. But the concept, when it comes to leadership, is just stupid.

Really it's a cop-out. (Pun intended.)

If Ventura is the good cop, then he must learn the bad. And if Parent is the bad cop, he's got to learn the good. The compassionate leader must learn strength and how to hold people accountable. The strong leader must learn empathy and listening skills.

In other words, no leader is allowed to be just half of a leader. We have a responsibility to grow right out of our comfort zones into well rounded leaders who can handle any eventuality reasonably well.

So what's the practical application of good cop/bad cop? When the players need to suckle, when they need a friend, they go to Ventura, but when criticism or discipline is needed, Ventura hides behind Parent? That's idiotic.

What player is going to respect Ventura if he can't criticize, discipline, demote or cut someone? They will look at him as cowardly and their respect level for him will go down. When the respect level goes down the desire to play hard for him will also go down.

It will also destroy Ventura's credibility. There is a dishonesty created when a leader cannot carry out the thoughts of his or her own mind. (Ventura pats the player on the back, while sending Parent in to tell him what he really thinks.) And credibility is the platform from which we lead. Without it we're done before we start.

Good cop/bad cop in leadership is absurd and untenable. It's for cowards who don't want to take on the responsibility to grow into real leaders by facing their weaknesses and shattering their comfort zones.