I have waited several weeks for the news cycle to slow down on the Penn State tradegy with the former assistant coach. You see other incidents emerging at other places now where other individuals have not been called out for behaviours that can only be described as the worst crimes possible. The behaviours of these individuals is grave and more horrible than anything I can imagine. A couple of thoughts first about the issues raised by these incidents:
This is not a sport's issue...
This is not even an higher education issues...
This is also not just about the abuse of youth...
No, this is an issue of failure to hold leaders accountable at all levels or all sorts of stuff. A culture of as long as someone else up the food chain can be held more responsible.. then I need not act like a leader... I can just pass the buck. Whether it is something as bad as abusing children or as light as looking the other way when an employee cheats the company, have we allowed a leadership culture that looks the other way to become dominate in our organizations? Some questions about your organization to ponder...
Would leaders step in to fix a wronged individual if it wasn't their turf?
Would leaders call out an individual who verbally abuses others?
Would leaders risk losing a customer if that customer violated professional standards?
That's just a few.. but ask yourself.. where do leaders at my organization stand when the culture needs to be shifted back to a more ethical and professional way of doing business?
