Minneapolis
The never-ending merry-go-round of horrible leadership examples is spinning out of control these days. And yet, two shining examples emerge amidst the heinous Penn State scandals, long-overdue departures of George Papandreou and the contemptible Silvio Berlusconi, the soon-to-be "perp walking" ex-MF Global chief Jon Corzine, and the foolishness of Herman Cain and most of the field of U.S. Presidential candidates.
Dover Air Force Base mortuary employees James Parsons, Mary Ellen Spera and Bill Zwicharowski had repeatedly tried to tell their supervisors about gross malpractices at the nation's largest military mortuary. As is so often the case in these situations, however, their concerns fell on deaf ears. The predictable inclination to protect one's institution and one's career suffocated their dissent. And yet, these three persistent professionals went outside the chain of command to express their legitimate concerns and, well, justice has now been served. Unlike Paterno, McQuery and the entire Penn State crowd, these brave three transcended institutional insularity and rose to a their leadership moment.
Then there's retired NHL veteran Theo Fleury. He was one of those scrappy guys you hated when he played for opposing teams, but his recent work underscores that this man is a leader. He wrote the best-selling novel, Playing With Fire last year in which he spoke to the pain of longstanding sexual abuse at the hands of a criminally deranged coach and that coach's enablers. As the Penn State scandal unfolds for the next year and more, Fleury has been an important, informed voice on the subject of sexual abuse. His work with kids recovering from these unspeakable crimes is certainly to be commended.
Folks like Theo Fleury and the "Dover" whistleblowers should make us proud as we nonetheless feel such profound shame about so many others - insulated and invidious - who dare to think of themselves as leaders.
The never-ending merry-go-round of horrible leadership examples is spinning out of control these days. And yet, two shining examples emerge amidst the heinous Penn State scandals, long-overdue departures of George Papandreou and the contemptible Silvio Berlusconi, the soon-to-be "perp walking" ex-MF Global chief Jon Corzine, and the foolishness of Herman Cain and most of the field of U.S. Presidential candidates.
Dover Air Force Base mortuary employees James Parsons, Mary Ellen Spera and Bill Zwicharowski had repeatedly tried to tell their supervisors about gross malpractices at the nation's largest military mortuary. As is so often the case in these situations, however, their concerns fell on deaf ears. The predictable inclination to protect one's institution and one's career suffocated their dissent. And yet, these three persistent professionals went outside the chain of command to express their legitimate concerns and, well, justice has now been served. Unlike Paterno, McQuery and the entire Penn State crowd, these brave three transcended institutional insularity and rose to a their leadership moment.
Then there's retired NHL veteran Theo Fleury. He was one of those scrappy guys you hated when he played for opposing teams, but his recent work underscores that this man is a leader. He wrote the best-selling novel, Playing With Fire last year in which he spoke to the pain of longstanding sexual abuse at the hands of a criminally deranged coach and that coach's enablers. As the Penn State scandal unfolds for the next year and more, Fleury has been an important, informed voice on the subject of sexual abuse. His work with kids recovering from these unspeakable crimes is certainly to be commended.
Folks like Theo Fleury and the "Dover" whistleblowers should make us proud as we nonetheless feel such profound shame about so many others - insulated and invidious - who dare to think of themselves as leaders.