The Unethical Leader- An Oxymoronic Leadership Yarn
Brad decided to write a book about effective management techniques. The title: How to Win, described his leadership philosophy. Just win baby! That was his motto and it had served him well.
Brad had won some good awards at work. It was time to let others in on his secret. He made a list of chapters and a short summary for each one.
Chapter 1 – You Have To Do It To Get Ahead
Summary: Other people are doing it. Don’t be left behind. Join the crowd. But do it better than the crowd and win!
Chapter 2 – Work In The Gray Area
Summary: To win, you have to work in the gray areas. The rules of business are so restrictive these days. The only way to beat the competition is to realize charcoal is a shade of gray too!
Chapter 3 – Know What The Rules Don’t Say
Summary: It’s not wrong if there isn’t a rule or regulation against it. The better you know the rules and regulations, the better you can find the loop holes the regulators missed. Until that loop hole is closed it is a competitive advantage to use it even if some people think it is wrong.
Chapter 4 – If The Rules Don’t Make Sense-Break Them
Summary: If it is a dumb rule, it is dumb to follow it. Only the good rules apply to someone who really wants to win. You decide whether a rule is worth following.
Chapter 5 – Do What Is Easiest At The Time
Summary: Leading is hard. When there is an easier path, why choose the path that make things harder? Find the path of least resistance for you personally and stay on it. Let other people take the tougher, slower road and you’ll be at the top first!
Chapter 6 – The End Justify The Means
Summary: We get paid for results! If you are not pushing the limits, you are not trying. When you finish #1, upper management celebrates you and your team will thank you. No one asks questions of #1.
Chapter 7 – The Little Things Don’t Matter
Summary: You work hard and you deserve a few breaks. There are ways to doctor expense accounts, productivity reports, and other bureaucratic nonsense that will make life easier for you by saving you time and money.
Chapter 8 – No One Will Know
Summary: If you could cut corners without anyone ever finding out, why wouldn’t you? It’s a no brainer! Get the competitive advantage by doing things that are out of bounds and out of sight.
Chapter 9 – CYA
Summary: In the end, there is always some risk. But a wink and a nod while you say the right thing covers your rear, while still telling your people what you expect them to do. As long as you have said the right thing, you are covered.
Chapter 10 – Your People Will Still Trust/Love You
Summary: People trust leaders who win. They will trust you if you show them how to get around the hurdles set up by regulations. Just because you break the rules, doesn’t mean you can’t be trusted. They will still believe you have their backs in a pinch. They will definitely have yours! People love a winner!
Meeting With The Publisher
Unfortunately, when Brad took his book proposal to a publisher, they only laughed.
“Maybe you should call the book How To Be Common instead of How To Win! This is not a book that needs to be written. All the stuff you lay out here comes naturally to people. People don’t have to think or be different to do that stuff. We are looking for authors who write books about uncommon leadership practices! We want books that inspire people to do hard things, not follow what everyone else does.”
Discouraged, Brad stopped at a steak house on his way home. He had an expensive dinner on his corporate credit card. He had worked hard that week and deserved the good meal. His company didn’t pay him enough anyway. Besides, he knew how to expense it so no one would ever know.
The Bottom Line:
The Unethical Leader is an Oxymoronic Leadership Yarn. We should all see the absurdity of each chapter in Brad’s book. The sad thing is, we often overlook the absurdity of our own motivations and actions when we act like an Unethical Leader.
Like the publisher said, it may be easier to follow our instinct and do what others do. But, that just makes us common. People want uncommon leaders. People want ethical leaders.
I can not really be a leader and be unethical. It is an oxymoron.
Question:
What chapter in Brad’s book illustrates the most common actions of people you have worked with?
Everything I ever needed to know about tough leadership I learned from the USMA Cadet Prayer.
“Help us in our endeavor to live above the common level of life”
“Help us to choose the harder right instead of the easier wrong”
100% agree! I repeat the harder right instead of the easier wrong statement in all my classes.
If doing the right thing was easy, everyone would be doing it.
Real leaders do the right thing when no one is looking because it is the right thing to do. Real leaders have a servants heart not a self serving one.
That is a great segue into Friday’s blog!
I think the book he was looking for was already published hundreds of years ago and named “The Prince”. What I learned not long ago is that Machiavelli was most likely meaning the Prince to be a parody rather than a serious guide. All his other writings are at odds with the End Justify the Means mentality. By the way, what prison is Brad currently serving in?
Brad’s story takes a decidedly negative turn while in prison. But it took someone on his team, who had courage, to put him there.