What we expect from our leadersThe truly rotten behaviour of those we thought we could look up to exposed by the Murphy report has truly shaken me. I find it unforgivable that men who held themselves up as moral authorities in our society were more concerned about the prevention of scandal than the wellbeing and care of children. The finding that the hierarchy in Rome actually instructed bishops to report problems to Rome rather than the police here and that they apparently made efforts to block the uncovering of the truth is truly a stain on the church as a whole. This can no longer be seen as the actions of a small number of bishops but goes right to the heart of the organisation. As a not very active member of the faith I’ve been shocked by my emotional response to this. I didn’t recognise how much a part of me the Catholic Church was. I’m surprised at my feelings of bereavement. It got me thinking that people in any organisation who find their leaders to be seriously lacking probably feel the same way. Imagine working hard for a company, giving years of your life to it maybe. Then you find out that the most senior people were lying or were hiding some damaging information, maybe that one of your products was unsafe for example. Wouldn’t you feel angry, bereft even? Wouldn’t you feel embarrassed to be associated with the organisation? What could the senior management do to try to rectify the situation?
The child abuse scandal is an extreme example of bad behaviour in an organisation but there are lessons for all managers to learn from it. Add a CommentYour comment will appear once it has been approved. |