I remain alarmed over the continuing protests around the country and the globe. I find these different than the protests of the 60's in the US. Those protests had fairly specific end goals in mind (e.g., get out of the Viet Nam war). While many current protesters seem to be "against" banks and capital and Wall Street, there seems to be no purpose and certainly no suggested outcome.
As I wrote in an earlier blog (October 5, 2011), I relate this to the practice of leadership. My concern: leaders are probably included in many of these protesters' definition of greed and corporate corruption. If the so-called "movement" begins to surface inside organizations (whether banks, factories, hospitals, schools, service industry employers, or even churches), leadership will be challenged there as well. Unions have long served to protest and challenge the decisions of leaders through representation, grievances, and contract negotiations. And while I have historically been on the management side of the labor-management relations interface, I have always understood the need in some cases for unions. But this movement is different. The voice of the movement seems to articulate only "it just is not fair" statements. The protesters simply protest without making any concrete suggestions. And many statements I have read sound more like a call for total chaos - "let's just get rid of all leaders because leaders are the ones who have caused all of our problems to begin with." Moreover, the challenges go to the heart of what organizations are all about - essentially, common vision, organizational mission, structure, rules, rewards, and recognition.
Now more than ever we need our organizations and we need our leaders. And we need leaders to lead large groups of people toward change visions and new missions.
Now, before readers accuse me of painting the picture that organizations and corporations are all pure and above challenge and reproach, let me respond. Enron, Arthur Andersen, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and Lehman Brothers, and countless others have cheated and denigrated workers and violated common ethics and values. Our government - both parties - is to blame for so much of this lack of confidence in leadership. I think in many ways much of this is caused by the "rationalization" practiced by so many leaders in corporations and in government.
An excellent article from the Academy of Management Executive (2005, Vol. 19, No. 4)available at the following site --http://www.theaveygroup.com/Readings/Chapter%203-%20Ethics%20AME%20Classic.pdf -- gives some background on this.
Leaders - be sure you help all see the common vision, try to hire and enlist those who can share that with you, and do not violate the trust that has been given you to lead. Be prepared - no, welcome - challenge and be ready to explain the rationale for your leadership decisions.
