An interesting week for me, finding more long-lost friends, discovering new music, and thinking about leadership and the moral and ethical bankruptcy of folks we hold up as leaders.
Lost friends rediscovered
Continuing my effort to reconnect with people who have been important in my life, I looked for a few folks I worked with during my mining career.
Two are living in a city we used to live in, but I could not find email addresses for them.
Some creative Googling, some AnyWho.com searches, and looking at the county assessor’s tax records online gave me a mailing address. I remembered some of the kids Joe had, and found someone on Facebook who looked like he was the right age and name. Taking a chance, I initiated contact, and the response I got was: “I am proudly his son!”
I wrote Joe a letter – you know, the kind on paper, sent in an envelope with a stamp – and last night, he called. Joe and I had a wonderful 30-minute conversation, and I’m looking forward to visiting in person.
It turns out the other person I’m interesting in reconnecting with is well known to Joe. This is one of those magical connections that is surprising because Bob and Joe work for different companies, and they have no shared history. But as sometimes happens in a conversation, one thing led to another, and Joe and I discovered this shared connection.
Joe was, and is, one of those truly good people that one sometimes has the privilege to work with. Talking with Joe brought back many memories, and they are still swirling in my mind.
Esperanza Spalding
We watched an hour-long special honoring Stevie Wonder on PBS and I was amazed at the performance of a young player of the acoustic bass, Esperanza Spalding. Not to take away from Stevie’s accomplishments or from his excellent performances on the show, but I’m going to be listening to more of Esperanza (and in fact, I am listening while I type this!).
Rarely do I hear a musician who simply stops me in my tracks. Esperanza Spalding is one who did. And to close the loop a bit more, she originally hails from Portland, Oregon, so she has Pacific Northwest roots. I like that.
We expect leadership and the fourth “R”
One of the AHA! moments of this week is: we expect people to exhibit leadership, but we don’t train people to be leaders. Scratch the surface of a leader, and you don’t know what you may find.
I’m a strong believer in the school of hard knocks, perhaps because it’s been one of the more effective ways of teaching me some life lessons. Leadership seems to come naturally to some people, but some folks we simply expect to be leaders without giving them the skills needed to actually perform well in a leadership role.
Michael Phelps stumbled
Olympic swimmer Michael Phelps is a recent example. Thrust into the spotlight by his Olympic performances and endorsement deals, a photograph surfaced of him apparently smoking marijuana in a bong. Michael didn’t respond well at the outset, but later seemed to hone his message, probably to control damage to his reputation. It didn’t save most of his endorsement deals, and this appears like it is going to be one of those hard life lessons.
My point is his athletic performance somehow caused the general public to consider him to be a role model for young people. I don’t remember that being part of the metrics used to determine who wins Olympic gold. The focus is intently on improving athletic performance, but the individual is perceived to be a role model or leader if he or she is successful as an athlete.
We have an expectation of leadership, sometimes without investing the time and training in helping people become better leaders.
A-Rod succumbed to pressure
Alex Rodriguez’s admitted steroid use is another example of an athlete with a history of superb athletic accomplishments, intense pressure to continue performing at a very high level, who made a poor choice. There is an odd clash between our expectation of leadership and morality while at the same time applauding only the very best performance, no matter the personal cost.
Presidents and politicians, business leaders, ministers, teachers – folks in virtually every walk of life – are expected to exhibit morally sound behavior, provide leadership, and serve as role models, but we simply don’t provide the training in ethics and communications to support those expectations.
The fourth “R” should be Responsibility
I propose a fourth “R” to supplement Reading, wRiting, and aRithmetic: Responsibility. While it may be the role of the family and the church to teach morality, we can teach ethics and communication skills in public schools. I submit that if we continue to fail to provide this kind of educational leadership, this glut of morally and ethically bankrupt leaders will continue to grow, affecting us all.
What do you think?
Should we be investing more in teaching people how to be leaders?
Discussion
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