Character has Left the Building

The feel good story of the Olympics is now the puff, puff pass story of a celebrity athlete who let his young swimming fans down. The most gifted athlete in baseball has now gone from a lock for the Hall of fame as A Rod to another athlete who cheats as his new moniker A Roid will forever remind us. Throw in a little Madoff, mix in a bit of TARP bail out junkets and you have to wonder what happened to good judgment?

The Enron scandal of ancient history seems to have not been the corporate lesson we hoped it would be, instead becoming the jumping off point of a landslide of a loss of leadership character. Remember character? The ability to know how to make good decisions. The ability to control yourself for the benefit of those who follow you? Abuse of power and money is not a new story, but we seem to be awash in poor judgment. How do we right the ship?

Set the Tone

If you ever expect your staff to be honest, upfront and consider the greater good, you as the leader have to demonstrate the behaviors you want to see in your staff. The auto execs begging for money in DC and deep concessions from the unions while travel in corporate jets and accepting large bonuses in a profit bleeding year – are you kidding me? It doesn’t take an MBA to see the mixed message being sent.

We’ve reached a point where ethics, decision-making and what is means to have personal character should be topics of managerial training. Assuming “they already know that stuff” is an assumption that could cost your organization millions. Think I’m wrong? You probably also thought a food vendor knew not to ship salmonella poisoned peanut products as well.

We need a return to the basics of leadership that have been lost. Having good character, caring for employees and complete honestly are the only ways to restore trust in this country that is being shaken worst than a 9.2 earthquake. Begin the restoration process today.