Loyalty and Cowardly Leadership
“I need loyalty. I expect loyalty.” How many times have we heard that phrase since the James Comey testimony before the Senate Intelligence Committee?
If we didn’t know it before-and I think most of us did- we know it now: What is one person’s loyalty is another person’s allegiance, and a third person’s commitment to the job.
Loyalty from two perspectives
I think there are two aspects of loyalty. The type most of us first think of is loyalty by the employee to the employer, to the boss, the company. Your employer rightfully expects a degree of loyalty. You should be on time, do the job you were hired to do, have some degree of concern and commitment to the organization. If you are disloyal, if you badmouth the company, if you gossip about confidential information, if you publish the secret recipe for Coke, you’re fired. As you should be.
But a big, fat, sticky question is: To whom are you loyal? The organization, or to the CEO of the organization? The company that writes your check, or your manager that assigns you your job, performs your personnel evaluation, and recommends whether or not you get a raise?
There are no easy answers.
The second loyalty perspective is one that isn’t discussed very much:
How much loyalty should the organization give to you?
A scenario
You work in a political environment for an elected official. Decisions are made based on what might gain a few votes, not necessarily what is best for the citizens. You have (you’re reasonably confident) a high degree of ethical commitment to doing the right thing. You bring a long, distinguished record of public leadership. No previous employer or staff person has ever questioned your professionalism or commitment to putting the best interests of the organization, and its employees, ahead of political ambition.
You are ordered to ignore long-standing written policy in the name of politics. Gradually, but perceptively, you’re shunned and moved to the sidelines. You are confident in your ability, and you want to keep your job. Within reason, you want to continue working with the staff you supervise and respect. Regardless of the difficulties of your boss, your goal is to make the organization better and more productive. You want to make a difference.
You are ordered to hire certain direct reports that report to you. Regardless of your best effort, the job begins to slip away, so you make copies of documents and memos that will protect you and your reputation and integrity if and when you are told to leave.
Your employer has the right to remove you at any time, for any reason, or for no reason.
Where is loyalty in this scenario? Is there any? Should there be? Is it even an issue?
OH- by the way, this actually happened. To me.
What are you expected to give?
According to James Comey’s testimony, President Trump said he expected “honest loyalty.” There is no more oxymoronic phrase than “honest loyalty.” Although everyone in an idealistic, perfect world would like to think there is both an abundance of honesty and loyalty, it’s a rare situation, and the more political the venue, the less likely it exists.
In a highly political atmosphere, such as a strong mayor local government, the Mayor chooses his own staff based on patronage and loyalty. The ability to be honest and frank, and have an informed opinion is low on the priority scale. Those a level lower who report to the politically appointed operatives have an especially difficult line to walk. How “honest” is an assessment allowed to be without crossing the line into insubordination or disloyalty? Can you question a directive? Should you? Is every answer in this kind of environment simply, “yes boss”?
Honesty vs. Loyalty
According to the Oxford English Dictionary, honesty is: “uprightness of disposition and conduct; integrity, truthfulness, straightforwardness.”
Peter Beinart, writing in The Atlantic in an article entitled, “There’s No Such Thing as Honest Loyalty,” contrasts honesty as an inner-directed ideal, to loyalty, which he describes as an outer directed ideal.
This statement from Beinart is telling: “If honesty means being true to oneself, loyalty means being true to others, even it that requires subordinating what you believe is right. Your best friend cheats on a test and your teacher asks whether she did it. The honest answer is yes. The loyal answer is no.”
Which is right?
There is no satisfactory answer to that question. When you wake up in the morning and look in the mirror, you ask yourself the following:
“Am I going to be honest to myself and my beliefs or loyal to those who hired me and expect me to follow their orders?” Just as many people feel James Comey was honest, many others feel he was disloyal. It depends on your perspective. Does the organization owe you loyalty that it demands from you? Is honesty even important in government?
What do you think?
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