“I can’t figure out if he is brilliant or stupid!” Often a leader makes decisions based upon
context of which only he or she is privy.
Because I cannot know all the information a top leader knows, I strive
to give the benefit of the doubt to that leader. As a person of faith, I do my best to support
decisions the leader makes and align my behaviors with those decisions.
However, after a length of time, the leader’s behaviors are
evaluated against a set of values and the leader is deemed a good leader or a
bad leader or the jury is still out.
After a number of years though conclusions can be drawn, even if the
leader’s actions are inconsistent.
I recently said to a friend “I cannot determine if this
leader is brilliant or stupid.” In
pondering this dichotomy, I realized that brilliant is not an option. At best, the leader is mediocre while at worst;
he is a poison to the system. So really
the choices are stupid or poison!
I arrive at this conclusion because: a real leader, regardless of his/her personal
preferences, will align choices for the greater good. A true leader cannot and will not allow
something bad to be inflicted on the organization or cause, just to serve a
short-term purpose.
Ultimately a brilliant leader does everything for the
greater good and would not allow something negative to impact the entity just
to have a short-term gain/glory or photo op!
So unfortunately, I’ve had to revise my statement from “I
can’t figure out” to “I’ve arrived at a conclusion and that conclusion is that
this person is a poison to the organization.”
Isn’t it pitiful to be at the point that you believe the labeled leader
does not have good intentions for the organization/cause but rather is
self-serving? Then too, how pitiful is
it to have that individual surround him/herself with gatekeepers who only repeat
the self-serving traits. Those intimate
circle persons do not “speak the truth in love” but rather perpetuate the
misaligned behaviors. Then the next
layer may repeat-until someone has the corporate courage to say “WAIT!”