Crap Sandwich

At least we aren’t killing the finance executives. The CEO of an Italian manufacturing company’s Indian outpost wasn’t as lucky, beaten to death by a mob of workers enraged by firings in the wake of an unresolved dispute. Safe to assume, however, that homicidal rage may be igniting a few American minds these days, as we continue to suffer the spectacle of the credit markets—the circulatory system of the American economy—choking and gasping and in bad need of an inhaler.

Now, being the moral and aggrieved bastard that I am, I’m sticking to my running attack on the corroded notions of leadership which surely undergird so much of our collective current predicament.

Correct me if I’ve missed them, but the glaring absence of confessions and conciliations from the responsible parties goes beyond insult atop injury or salting of the wound. In the words of Republican House Minority Leader John A. Boehner, “It’s a crap sandwich.”

“Why do so many people have such a hard time apologizing, especially when the act itself is such a powerful symbol of leadership and reconciliation?” asks Workforce Management editor John Hollon.

Why indeed. In Mel Brooks’ hilarious History of the World Part I, Roman senators, voting on whether to build palace after palace for the rich or the more noble purpose of building decent housing for the poor, unanimously raise their fists and shout “F*%k the poor!” Executive failure to stand up and apologize bespeaks a like operating philosophy. Only in our real world case, it’s not just the poor that are getting buggered, it’s the world financial markets.

As Hollon points out, while there are many good reasons to use an apology as a business strategy, “the most relevant reason for apologizing is that it builds a powerful workplace business culture.” And sharing Hollon’s own concern, I know I sound idealistic as hell, but something truly has to give.

Jeff Heilman

10/1/08

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