[April 9, 2016] We regularly read about leaders who are involved in some scandal; either from their personal behavior or by association. Most of those who violate moral, legal, or ethical standards are fired or resign from their jobs but they don’t just disappear. Leaders tainted by scandal present a special leadership challenge.
In a networked-modern society it is impossible for a leader’s record of performance and behavior not to be common knowledge. Much of what we do in our life –in our jobs, social activities, religion – is recorded permanently in pictures, video, in public media (television, radio, email, blogs), etc.
Generally this is considered a good thing because it provides us with positive motivation to do the right thing; always. Some social scientists say this is unfair since the person is perpetually punished for a misdeed. Others argue it helps us define and clarify boundaries of behavior. Actually it’s both and learning from failure has always been an important part of being human.
While none of us are perfect, there remains the social expectation that we all do our best and not allow ourselves to be tempted to do wrong. Our past does follow us. This means that those tainted with scandal will have others see us as having less credibility as well as less trustworthy.
An example of a high-profile leader who has been tainted by scandal is Secretary Hillary Clinton, who is currently running for the U.S. presidency. Her husband’s impeachment and sex scandal plus her own mistakes of exposing state secrets by having an unsecure email server, among many other issues, all have exposed her to severe criticism and painted her as a dishonest and unworthy leader.
Scandals are common today, it is said, simply because we know more about them. Communication is better technically and widespread than ever before. It is probably not explained from the deterioration of societal norms even though it could be a factor. That is why we know more about Clinton’s scandals despite her claims that other Secretaries of State did the same thing she did.
In Part 2 of this series, I will discuss how a leader can overcome being tainted by scandal and why it is so important to do so.
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