Feature Article - January 2008

Leaderslips' Good, Bad and Bungled "Awards" of 2007

by Tom Davidson

We may not have the Golden Globe Awards or the Oscars this year, but you can still enjoy the Leaderslips Awards of 2007, which are noteworthy lessons of leadership from the daily news.  As usual, they include "the good, the bad and the bungled." 

THE GOOD  

“Most Authentic Leadership” Award:

Virginia Tech President Charles Steger and the “Hokie Nation” 

In the wake of the April carnage at Virginia Tech, where 33 innocent students and faculty members were murdered by a mad man, the “Hokie Nation” gave the world a lesson in authentic leadership.  President Charles Steger and his staff set a somber-yet-determined tone from the start, resolved to do the right things in the right ways under the most horrid circumstances.  The University communicated constantly and appropriately with the media and the public, took harsh criticism with grace and fortitude, treated the dead and wounded with respect, and supported the student body and its larger community in multiple and untold ways.  The student body itself rallied similarly with their own brand of professionalism and grace.  In a tragedy like this, there is no real training manual, no script writer or consultant, no opportunity to practice, and no second chance.  Leaders are stripped to the core, and what we saw was the kind of character that we can only hope exists somewhere inside the rest of us if and when the time comes. 

“Most Willing to Walk the Talk” Award:

Lee C. Bollinger, President of Columbia University 

By inviting Iranian leader Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to speak at the SIPA-World Leaders Forum at Columbia University in September, University President Lee C. Bollinger went out on the kind of limb that few business leaders would ever want to experience.  In the name of free speech and fostering the kind of robust global debate that has been the University’s mission and heritage, he stood in a storm of criticism by giving the extremist leader a platform on U.S. soil.  Then in his introductory remarks, he unleashed a little free speech of his own, calling Amhadinejad “a petty and cruel dictator” then challenged him on litany of human rights abuses and other treachery.  Lots of leaders “talk the talk,” but few have “walked the walk” like Bollinger did in 2007. 

“Most Willing to Risk It All” Award:

Benazir Bhutto, former Prime Minister of Pakistan 

When Benazir Bhutto returned to Pakistan in 2007, she put herself squarely in the cross hairs of her enemies and with very little chance of escaping.  In December her fate was sealed by an assassin’s bomb.  Ms. Bhutto not only had the vision of a leader but the courage of her convictions.  While the proportions of this epic example are hardly comparable, the lesson for leaders in all organizations takes the form of a question.  What are you willing to risk to make a difference?  Management Consultant Peter Block has said that leaders need to know that at some level, the bullet is already on its way.  The only question is what position do you want to be in when it arrives? 

THE BAD

“The Softest Landing” Award:

Former CEO Stanley O’Neal and Merrill Lynch 

Up where the executive air is thin, “pay for performance” is a cloudy principle, and the murkiness continued in 2007.   Initially touted as a change agent and savior for troubled Merrill Lynch when he arrived in 2002, Stanley O’Neal lead the organization into painful losses by 2007, losses to the bottom line, to the stock price and to the company’s reputation.  Committing what analysts called “horrendous errors” in judgment, a record of unprecedented risky investments and the initiation of a major merger without Board approval, O’Neal finally lost his job in October.  But it’s not the errors, the impacts or the derailment that put him on this list; good leaders make bad mistakes all the time.  It’s O’Neal’s astounding $161.5 million severance package that continued an embarrassing tradition at this level of corporate governance.  That’s not leadership, it is excess.

“Most Detached in a Crisis” Award:

CEO James Cayne of Bear Stearns Cos. 

Financial crises were not uncommon in the summer of 2007, but what was unusual was the way in which James Cayne, CEO of Bear Stearns Cos., appeared to have taken them in stride.  During the tumultuous months of June and July, when two of Bear Stearns’ hedge funds were literally collapsing, Cayne was reportedly playing round-after-round of golf, competing in day-long bridge tournaments, making rare appearances at the office, and remaining unreachable for extended periods of time (at least in part because of rules against electronic devices at his country club).  The Wall Street Journal reported that he sometimes “phoned in” for management meetings, but his participation on investor phone calls was intermittent, eroding investor confidence and accelerating the fund collapses.  His detached behavior and their results have triggered investigations by the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Justice Department and Massachusetts state regulators.  This month, he was replaced as CEO.  It also earned him recognition here as the most detached leader of the year. 

“The Slimy Self-promotion” Award:

John Mackey, Founder and CEO of Whole Foods Market, Inc. 

He may be the “Bill Gates of organic foods,” but that’s where the comparison ends.  John Mackey, founder and CEO of Whole Foods, Inc., rode his eccentricity to the top of his game and then into the ignominious history books of 2007.  He was exposed by the Wall Street Journal for posting comments on Yahoo financial message boards under an assumed name, “Rahodeb.”  His ranting was also peppered with strangely self-admiring and quirky remarks.  “I like Mackey’s haircut,” read one entry.  “I think he looks cute.”  While his postings were intended to use the “blogoshere” to boost the company’s financial image, generate support from investors and criticize competitors with impunity, Mackey ultimately gained another kind of recognition.  Sullied and under investigation, Mackey may be one of the least admired leaders of 2007.   

THE BUNGLED

“The Self-immolation” Award:

Senator Larry Craig, Idaho 

Not knowing when to quit, Senator Larry Craig damaged then destroyed his reputation last summer with very little help from anyone else.  Not only was he arrested for inappropriate behavior in a men’s room, he voluntarily pleaded guilty to the charge then changed his mind when it came into public view.  Ironically, this apparent transgression was by a man who may have protested too much against gay rights and who called Bill Clinton “a nasty boy,” only adding to the caricature.  The strange turn of events continued in late 2007 as he somberly announced his resignation then withdrew that as well, vowing to fight for his good name.  Senator Craig makes the list for bad judgment, indecision, and hypocrisy.     

“The Stream of Unconsciousness” Award:

Senator Joe Biden, Delaware

Elected officials say a lot of things in a day’s time, and much of it is recorded by a hungry media.  I’m sure that if any one of us were to be followed through our day with recorders rolling, we’d be caught saying some pretty foolish things, too.  But this is no excuse for the backhanded remarks of Senator Joe Biden in February regarding Senator Barack Obama, essentially dismissing his presidential campaign as “storybook” material in that the Senator is an African-American who is “articulate, bright, clean and nice-looking."  The implication being, of course, that this is an unusual set of circumstances and could only happen in a fairytale.  Wrong on so many levels, his further attempt to reframe the remark as “taken out of context” was to insult the public’s intelligence even further.  Words have meaning, and a leader has to be much more self-aware, well-intentioned, and contrite than this example.

“The Public Disservice” Award:

FEMA Public Affairs Office  

Destruction, human suffering, heroism, and environmental damage on the west coast were the backdrop for bungled leadership in the public affairs office of FEMA (the Federal Emergency Management Agency) on the east coast last October.  What should have been a routine press conference by the deputy administrator of FEMA was turned into a public farce.  Staffers felt it necessary to pose as reporters and ask easy questions of the deputy administrator, rationalizing later that there had been too few reporters and that these would have been the questions they would have asked anyway.   But instead of polishing the agency’s image, it was further tarnished.  Homeland Security Department head Michael Chertoff called it “one of the dumbest and most inappropriate things [he has] seen since [he has] been in government."  Now that is believable.  

Of all the traits and competencies that contribute to good leadership, certainly the ability to learn is at or near the top of the list.  I hope this review of 2007 and all of the Leaderslips articles spur discussions and self reflection so that we can all be continuously learning leaders and managers.  Please send me your ideas for future features on leaders and Leaderslips in the news and have a good New Year.

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