Thought this might be of interest to some of you - seven sins and lessons learned.
http://finance.yahoo.com/career-work/article/104633/Eliot-Spitzer's-Seven-Deadly-SinsEliot Spitzer's Seven Deadly Sins
by Patricia O'Connell
Friday, March 14, 2008
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Eliot Spitzer. © Getty Images |
Stunning,
shocking, schadenfreude-inducing. All those adjectives have been used
to describe the fall of Eliot Spitzer, "The Sheriff of Wall Street" and the man Time Magazine
named "The Crusader." On the surface it seems his involvement with a
prostitution ring and other possible illegal behavior are what doomed
him as governor. But really they're only the tip of the iceberg. As a
leader and manager, Spitzer made plenty of other mistakes that made it
untenable for him to stay in office.
Here are Eliot Spitzer's seven deadly sins (with apologies to St. John Cassian, Pope St. Gregory the Great, and Dante), and the lessons they contain for any leader or manager.
1. Failure To Deliver
Spitzer, who was elected governor
of New York with some 70% of the vote and was regarded as a highly
effective state attorney general, was a disappointment as governor. His
proposal to give driver's licenses to illegal immigrants was derided;
in fact, one is hard-pressed to come up with one significant, positive
accomplishment from his approximately 14-month stint in the job. He
vowed to bring passion and reform to Albany. It seems he took his passion elsewhere, and forgot about the reform.
Lesson: You've got to deliver consistently. You're only as good as your most recent accomplishment.
2. Wrong Tactics for New Job
The zealous, aggressive nature that made Spitzer such an effective (and
in some circles, hugely unpopular) attorney general wasn't what was
needed in Albany. It's just not appropriate for a governor—the leader
of the state government, and the most preeminent member of his
political party in the state—to be a bully and a steamroller. The
qualities that make for a very effective advocate are the very ones
that made him ill-suited to be an executive (ie, a combative nature, an
unwillingness to compromise, etc.).
Lesson: No matter how attractive a new assignment or promotion seems, make sure it's one for which you're really suited.
3. Alienated Too Many
No one expected Spitzer to have lots of friends on Wall Street
or in the business community. And since politics in this country are
partisan, relations between Republicans and Democrats in Albany are
traditionally frosty. But it seems there was no one who could or would
rise to Spitzer's defense on any level or say anything beyond that they
felt sympathy for his family. Spitzer's lack of support made it
impossible for him to contemplate staying in office. As Republican Congressman Peter King said, "Nobody will stand with him."
Lesson: You can't expect to get things done if you only have adversaries, not allies.
4. Hypocrisy
One of the recurring themes in all the hoopla about the Spitzer sex
scandal has been his apparent hypocrisy and the anger that it has
engendered in people. Here was a man who ran on his record of having
cleaned up Wall Street and brought people to justice. He famously said
in one of his campaign ads that he never cared if a case was popular or
winnable, what mattered was right and wrong. The contrast between the
almost-priggish Spitzer and the man who was negotiating payment for
call-girl services is stark and disappointing to those who put their
trust in him.
Lesson:
You can't tell people one thing and do the complete opposite. When it
comes to light that you're not being straight with people, they feel
foolish for having trusted you and it's nearly impossible to regain
their trust.
5. Hubris
It's doubtful anyone ever
accused Spitzer of being modest. And modesty may have been unbecoming
and inauthentic for the brilliant and brash Spitzer. But an excess of
pride (which, as we all know, goes before a fall) is just as
unbecoming. And in Spitzer's case it very well may have been what made
him think he wouldn't get caught. He wasn't snared as part of an
investigation of a prostitution operation; it was his suspicious
banking activities that set off alarm bells. Of course Spitzer knew the
risks, what's baffling is how he thought he could avoid detection—and
consequences.
Lesson: No one is above the law; no one is untouchable, and no matter how smart you are, it doesn't matter.
6. Underestimating the Crisis
This wasn't the private matter Spitzer insisted it was when he first
spoke of it publicly on Mar. 10, and again when he resigned on Mar. 12.
He is a public figure. Prior to his resignation he was an elected
official being implicated in criminal activity. He also failed to
anticipate the fallout from this scandal. Albany
came to a standstill for two days, with the exception of the
Republicans galvanizing to threaten him with impeachment if he didn't
resign within 48 hours of the scandal having broken.
Lesson: Be realistic about what's going on, and if you can't see it yourself, seek out a person who can.
7. Some sins just aren't forgivable.
Religious doctrine to the contrary, there are some transgressions that
are just too great. It seems that holding yourself up as an examplar of
moral rectitude while cheating, on a seemingly perfect wife, with call
girls is one of them. I would argue that if none of Spitzer's other
"sins" falls into the category of unforgivable, the combination surely
does.
Lesson:
Know when a situation is beyond repair—or at least beyond your ability
to repair it—and either bring in the right people to help you fix it,
or move on, if appropriate.
Patricia O'Connell is Management Editor for BusinessWeek.com.