By Ron Schmidt
OK, maybe it’s time we talk about Donnie boy. He’s been consuming a lot of press lately, so taking a look at him may give us some insight to the behaviors of others, maybe even some folks with whom we work. While I stand neutral on his politics I take exception when others model his behavior.
The first thing we must agree on is Donnie is a bully. And we know bullies like to beat up on others because deep down they are an insecure lot and very full of themselves. We see bullies walking around with this macho arrogance–a macho arrogance that other insecure guys feed off. Seeing Donnie do his thing enables other bullies to do their own thing in how they treat others. We see a sense of their own inadequate self, which in turn results in more bullying of good people, like Nancy in the corner office, or Fred in IT.
Three Examples
Let’s take three examples. Donnie boy telling us who’s a war hero or not. Really! Folks, he’s the guy who got school and medical deferments for Vietnam. Remember insecure guys get jealous of veterans such as John McCain and have to put them down. Next, Donnie boy tells us he’s the smartest guy in the room because he went to Wharton Business School. Well, he only went to undergraduate school at Penn and he transferred in his junior year. Transferring to an Ivy League school is the easiest way in; he didn’t go through the selective freshmen admittance. And most importantly, at the Republican debate in Cleveland when Fox New’s Megyn Kelly asked Donnie boy some straight forward questions, he cried foul and slammed her for treating him badly. Really Donnie?
Bullies in the Bank
During the last financial crisis we saw some great examples of bullying, or better said, some destructive examples. Richard Fuld of Lehman Brothers exemplifies a terrific bully and for that, the powers to be didn’t bail out his failing Wall Street investment house. And in a recent meeting told a reporter to “bite me!” The same for Dave Daberko of the defunct National City Bank, who was abusive to regulators and employees and also was denied bailout money (the money went to PNC which acquired NCB.)
In our 2014 speaking series entitled Facing Ethics: How Behaviors Affect Our Workplace, we list some traits and characteristics of bullies such as intimidation, condescension, abuse, control and blaming others. And we pointed out that these traits and characteristics are behaviors that affect the performance of your team and your ability to build a strong relationship with your members. But seeing Donnie boy strut on stage makes me cringe, because his behavior reinforces this behavior to those around us. And the guy that walks into your corner office becomes empowered to be condescending and abusive to you.
So what qualities should we look for in our leaders, whether it’s a leader of our credit union or our country? At the end of Harper Lee’s novel To Kill a Mockingbird, Atticus the father says to Scout the daughter, “You never truly know someone until you walk in his shoes.” This is today considered an elemental ingredient in leadership; we’ll call it Leadership 101. What Atticus is referring to is what today we call empathy.
What Do We Tell the Kids?
In today’s political free-for-all, we witness name calling, accusations, slurs to ethnic origin and sex of the person. And most of this is coming from men; would we expect any less? But I ask you, what should we as a society expect? Or to turn it around: what would our children expect of a leader? How do we answer our kids as they question the behavior of leaders? What standards should we set for ourselves and our workplace? And would we, or do we, allow these “leadership politicians” standards in our workplace?
Ron Schmidt, CPA, is co-author of “How Am I Treasting You? Living With Civility and Dignity,” and is with CBS Certified Public Accountants in Solon, Ohio. He can be reached at rschmidt@cbscpasllc.com, or 440-542-1536, ext. 28.