We’ve had a crisis in leadership in business and government in this country for at least a decade, probably longer. In my opinion, we have a crisis in followership that concerns me even more.
There is no shortage of high profile public failures of leadership to point to: Jim Bakker, Bill Clinton, Jeff Skilling, Bernie Madoff, Mark Sanford, and Nidal Malik Hasan. In each of these cases there were people who saw or should have seen the warning signs of troubling behavior but either failed to act or failed to take enough action to stop the leader. Pick your leadership failure and I guarantee you there is an associated failure of followership.
And what about where you work today? Is there a leader harassing or bullying employees, breaking or skirting laws, misusing funds, or otherwise violating ethics? If so, what have you done?
Have we become so seduced by leadership that we no longer have the courage to open our eyes to see, our ears to hear, and our mouths to dissent when leaders misplace the trust and privilege that comes with their position and authority? There is no one to blame. It is our responsibility to hold ourselves accountable for holding our leaders accountable.
Shame on us.
Related Posts:
The Courage to Take Moral Action
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Bret,
It’s less a matter of seduction than of greed, or more accurately self-interest (another form of greed). The threshold for speaking out has become higher as people have become more uncertain of their economic future. Sadly, it is becoming more rare that people are recognized for corporate courage. Do you confront the boss that determines your bonus amount? Do you blow the whistle and allow your house to be foreclosed while you wait your reward? You will only see challenges to poor leadership when the value of the followers integrity exceeds the perks of the position.
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Bret L. Simmons Reply:
November 19th, 2009 at 9:03 am
Welcome, Raymund! Your observations are excellent. Totally concur that the threshold has been raised and also agree with your point about integrity in followership. Thanks for sharing your thoughts – hope we will hear from you again! Bret
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Like my colleagues told me when I got frustrated with our leadership. “Manage up.”
Easier said than done.
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Bret L. Simmons Reply:
November 19th, 2009 at 3:20 pm
So true, Alex. Maybe that is why so few people talk about it and even fewer ever do it. Thanks!!! bret
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