Larry Johnson

Corporate Culture Expert, Author and Speaker

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“Sanford and Friends: Honesty and Integrity??? NOT!”

June 26, 2009

Richard Nixon told us he wasn’t a crook. Bill Clinton said, “I never
had sexual relations with that woman.” Baseball star Jose Canseco
admitted to using anabolic steroids. John Edwards had an affair
during the Democratic primary races. And Governor Mark Sanford (R-SC)
disappeared from his post for five days with no word of where he was.
Upon returning, he said he was hiking the Appalachian Trail, and then
admitted he was in Argentina, having and extra-marital affair.

We often hear that “to err is human.” And let’s face it, we have all
erred a time or two. And many of us have been tempted to do what
these men did. To want to win an election so badly that we’d consider
breaking the law, or desire to have an affair so intensely we’d think
about betraying our wedding vows, or want to become a star in our
field of endeavor so badly we would consider cheating to get there

So I can understand Sanford’s falling from the “holier than thou
pedestal upon which he placed himself in 1998 when he criticized Bill
Clinton for doing the same thing he has been caught doing. It simply
makes him a hypocrite, in addition to being a philanderer. From my
perspective, as a student of corporate culture however, the more
egregious sin committed by all five men is the arrogant disregard
they displayed for those who had placed their faith and trust in
them.

Nixon let his staffers lie for him. Clinton, thus putting their
careers in jeopardy. Canseco, and his entire cohort of sports stars
who’ve cheated by using steroids, betrayed the trust of every starry
eyed kid who’s dreamt of following in their footsteps. Edwards was so
selfish that he chose to have his affair when there was a chance he
could win the Democratic primary. With all the scrutiny that comes
with being a presidential candidate, the truth would have surely
emerged, and millions of democrats would have lost the first chance
they’ve had in eight years to win an election.

Besides his family and the citizens of South Carolina, Sanford
arrogantly displayed an incredible disregard for the employees of the
State. He blatantly broke a state policy, which would get any
employee fired on the spot. The South Carolina Budget and Control
Board Disciplinary Policy, which, according to Mike Spanhour,
Director of Public Affairs, serves as the personnel policy guide for
South Carolina State employees reads:

SECTION VI, ABANDONMENT OF POSITION “An employee who voluntarily
fails to report to work for three consecutive workdays and fails to
contact the appropriate supervisory authority during this time will
be considered to have voluntarily resigned from the Budget and
Control Board. The resignation is automatically accepted. A voluntary
resignation is not a grievable issue.”
(http://www.state.sc.us/dio/DisciplinaryPolicy.pdf)

But will Sanford be “fired?” Of course not.

Spanhour went on to say, “It’s not clear that the Governor has to
abide by the rules that employees must follow.”

So there’s probably no legal standing for canning him. But that’s
little comfort to the supervisor in the field who decides to
discipline an employee for the same infraction, and is confronted
with, “If the governor can do it, why can’t I?”

Everything a leader does demonstrates what is acceptable or not.
Sanford’s behavior told the State of South Carolina employees that
it’s ok to abandon your position and it’s ok to lie about what you do
on state time. Of course, everyone knows that’s not true. The
Governor gets to behave according to a different standard that the
rest of us. Is it any wonder government employees are sometimes
perceived as having an “attitude?”

The bottom line is that people follow leaders because they trust
them. When leaders are dishonest, when they lie, when they act
without integrity, when they adopt special rules for themselves, they
betray that trust. Think about the last time someone you cared about
betrayed you. Did your level of cynicism about the world not go up a
notch or two? Keep that in mind the next time you are treated rudely
by the clerk the DMV.

Of course, few of us are state governors. Most of us are supervisors
and managers doing our best to lead and manage our folks – and that
includes me. And none of us would ever act in a way we wouldn’t want
our employees to act – would we?

Filed Under: Straight Talk Tagged With: integrity honesty leadership governor sanford argentina dishonesty betrayal deceit

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