Photo by Kris Atomic on Unsplash
Times Up, Indeed
As a leader at any level in any organization, you will find yourself drawn into controversies and conundrums that will test your leadership character.
In London, certain rich and powerful gentlemen, and their companies, are finding that out this week. They appear to have been hiding under a rock for the last six months, completely unaware of the #MeToo and #TimesUp movements. No doubt a well-appointed rock with a butler, but a rock nonetheless. Recently, at an all-male black-tie dinner ostensibly for charity, there was quite a bit of misbehavior by the male guests towards the female hostesses. It ranged from boorish to assault. You can read all about it here in the Financial Times (no subscription needed for this article) or here in the Washington Post. Many other media outlets have picked up the story, so you can find it just about anywhere.
The “hostesses” were all young women who were paid £150 to attend (plus £25 taxi fare), and they were given instructions on what underwear and shoes to wear and then provided with tight black dresses and corset-like belts. (The whole concept of these paid hostesses at a black-tie all-male dinner strikes me as a holdover from 19th century robber baron days. )
One of the women was a young reporter for the Financial Times. Her story sparked outrage in the UK and around the world, leading to some high-level resignations and a round of black eyes for the organization, the event, the attendees, and the charities. In fact, while I was writing this post, the organization has folded. It says it will disburse any remaining monies to charities, if it can find any to take the money, and will cease to exist.
This also made me think of other abrupt recent falls from grace, such as the firing of an assistant DA in Dallas, for going off on her Uber driver in a drunken tirade, accusing him of kidnapping her.
Smart People Do Stupid Things
Educated people in good jobs and leadership positions can still manage to do a lot of remarkably stupid things.
And in this era of cell phones, where there’s a video camera in everybody’s hand, it’s pretty hard to dispute what happened.
When I was in a leadership role on small overseas military bases, I was aware that everything I did was visible. People I didn’t even recognize knew who I was. I drove a yellow Smart car, and people would ask me if that was me speeding through town early in the mornings. I knew that I couldn’t afford to snap at the cashier in the commissary if I was having a bad day. In fact, I would avoid running errands on base at all after a difficult day, knowing my mood would show on my face.
Once you’re in a leadership role, in some ways, your life is no longer your own. Everything you do and say, wherever you are, speaks to your leadership character. Your character is the bedrock of your leadership. It doesn’t matter if a misstep, such as a drunken tirade, happens on a Saturday evening away from any work colleagues or customers. It still reflects on you and your organization. As the former assistant D.A. in Dallas and the organizers and attendees of that “charity dinner” have found out.
Think about how you want your leadership character to be revealed. Act that way all the time, in all things. And if you get invited to an all-male black tie affair with female hostesses, I’d just say no.
Prefer to Listen?
Find an audio version of this post on SoundCloud.
