Financial crisis: another leadership crisis

Well, it happened again. Just as it will happen over and over as long as human beings are involved. The greed of the uncontrolled few will make the masses pay the price for years to come.

Very few are willing to do the right thing. Very few are willing to stand out from the crowd, especially when there is no retribution, and you can literally have a lot of money for going with the flow and continuing to misbehave.

The few will escape virtually unscathed and rationalize their actions and ridiculously excessive compensation. It is very possible that they will continue to help in the next crisis.

At the height of the subprime boom, Citigroup CEO Charles Prince described his position in an interview with the Financial Times: “While the music is playing, you have to get up and dance. We keep dancing.” deserved? A parting gift of forty million dollars in exchange for kindly resigning. Thank you for the memories, Charles, for the strong leadership of Citigroup, and for the wonderful example you set for current and future managers.

Fighting this leadership crisis is an uphill battle, which makes it even more refreshing to know that some are still willing to do the right thing. Recently, a manager of 100 employees informed his team members that he had begun investigating a possible office move that would affect many of his jobs. He didn’t do it on move-in day, but months before a decision was made. He explained the reasons and asked for their opinion and participation in the process. Open and honest communication … an old but good one.

Certainly this example is on a much smaller scale than the aforementioned financial debacle, but any positive example of leadership, regardless of scale, should be celebrated. Mark Twain said, “Do the right thing. It will please some people and amaze the rest.” Let’s go out there and wow some people!