Workplace Calisthenics: Don't run your business like recent political campaign

I love it when I'm right.

For those of you who keep up with my musings, your synapses may be crackling with remembrances of my last column in SBJ. I made a case, albeit tongue-in-cheek, that I was not impressed with the two major candidates for president this election year.

Well, after the debacle of the Florida count-du-jour during the last few weeks, I'm really not impressed.

My disappointment has nothing to do with who won or lost; rather, what the cauldron of crisis revealed about the "real" person behind the bunting and balloons. It is not a pretty picture.

With evangelistic zeal we listened, during the campaign, to tear-choked invitations to reduce the size and intrusion of "big government" and return decision making to "the people."

Then there was the recount and I discovered "the people" could not be trusted to count, evaluate a "pregnant chad" or stay away from "mischief." The only antidote was a gigantic, humming computer which, against all logic, was assumed to never make mistakes. Have these politicians ever used an ATM or been assigned to seat 12F with three other people on the same flight?

And did anyone else besides me hear, "I want to return decision making to the states. You know better than any federal judge or Washington bureaucrat what you need."

Then the recount the first phone call by both contenders was to their legal eagles who were instructed to do a fly-by at the closest federal court and deposit their brain droppings. What a mess.

Am I suggesting that either candidate was supposed to have politically folded with a news conference announcing, "I am a really nice person immersed in impeccable values which compel me to throw in the towel even though there are three votes separating me and my opponent with 10,517 ballots that have been lost somewhere."

No.

My point in politics and business is that when the biological waste hits the fan, we find out who the real person is behind the starched collar.

Let's forget about George and Al for a moment. The question is what about us? Do those of us in leadership positions dig bottomless pits of credibility for ourselves by taking the high road with our words and a subway with our actions?

There are three commitments every leader can make to himself or herself and to an organization which will guarantee the charade of "a promise made a promise broken" will not replayed in their businesses.

First, think about the implications of using "absolute" terms in public pronouncements. Words like "never," "always," "guarantee," "count on" and "no one" can dig very deep holes.

If you stand in front of your staff and say, "I will guarantee no one will lose his or her job in any restructuring during 2001," you must backfill those words by eliminating any consideration of a RIF. Later, you may be saying, "Well, I did not know how bad things were when I made that promise." That excuse will be seen for what it really is an excuse. The hard work of leadership is to know when to say nothing if there is the potential you cannot keep a commitment.

Second, when you are wrong, openly admit it. From Watergate to Eden's Applegate, to Billgate the liabilities of covering your posterior parts with lies just never works. Telling the truth when the truth hurts is never fun, but it is smart. We all lose vast amounts of trust for people when they delay the truth.

Finally, regularly write down a list of values that are "non-negotiable" for you. In spite of where you work and with whom, you will never compromise these deeply imbedded beliefs.

Is leadership so situational that those who follow you cannot expect a consistent, value-driven response?

No one won the election of 2000. Yes, there will be a warm body that will move into the Oval Office in January with an entourage of spin specialists and public relations gurus. But, we have all lost.

In this case, I hate it when I'm right.

(Dr. Cal LeMon solves organizational problems with customized training and consulting. His company, The Executive Edge, can be contacted via the Business Journal at sbj@sbj.net.)