Conversations in Management
The
former New York Governor made this cocky assertion two years ago
when life looked a bit brighter. It wasn’t a surprising remark
from someone who as a kid was labeled the “enforcer’ by his
soccer team. When asked about it, he explained that he was the
guy on the team who “took people out.” As an adult, he made a
career of taking people out and he was fearless about it,
too. After joining the Manhattan District Attorney’s office, he
took on the Mob and was credited with ending the Gambino
family’s control over the garment and trucking industries.
Later, as New York’s Attorney General, he became the scourge of
Wall Street. He launched relentless attacks on white collar
crime and tenaciously sought to protect the rights of individual
investors. He investigated and prosecuted securities fraud,
stock price manipulation, unsavory Mutual Fund practices,
environmental issues and internet fraud. He even managed to
break up a couple of prostitution rings. Spitzer was so
successful, that when he ran for Governor in 2006, he received
69% of the vote and was hailed by Governor Bill Richardson of
New Mexico, as, “the future of the Democratic Party.” Yet, the
Party’s “future” had been flashing signs of trouble for a long
time. Apparently, he’d violated State laws on campaign financing
during his first run for Attorney General. Once elected, power
seemed to exercise an unhealthy hold on him. He craved fawning
media attention and punished those who didn’t give it to him.
Over time, his cases became less legally substantial but more
headline grabbing. His vicious side began to show. When business
leader John Whitehead wrote an article for the Wall Street
Journal defending AIG CEO Hank Greenberg—then in the Attorney
General’s sights—Spitzer called him up and said, “You will
pay the price. This is only the beginning and you will pay
dearly for what you have done.” After becoming Governor
things became worse. In a much publicized confrontation with
Minority Leader James Tedisco, Spitzer yelled, “Listen, I’m a
f---ing steamroller and I’ll roll over you and anybody else.”
His prestige was further damaged when he was implicated in a
scheme—dubbed Troopergate—to use the State Police to
punish political opponents. In less than two years his approval
rating dropped to 27%—and that was before he became
Client-9 in a prostitution scandal and was forced from
office.
So what
happened to Eliot Spitzer? The answer’s easy. It’s the same
thing that happens to a lot of folks when they get a little bit
of authority—they begin to suffer from hubris. Hubris is
the tendency of some people in power to make themselves feel
superior at the expense of others. Aristotle put it this way;
“men think by ill-treating others they make their own
superiority greater.” The ancient Greeks took hubris
seriously. Under Attic law, hubris was a graver offense than
bodily injury and perpetrators were subject to fines and even
death. While the petty tyrants in today’s workplace won’t get
the death penalty, they sure deplete morale and slow
productivity. Most of the time workplace hubris is a matter of
self-important people putting on airs but it’s also the
source of bullying, sexual harassment and acts of retaliation.
If left unchecked it can lead, as in Spitzer’s case, to immoral
and even criminal behavior. Whether you’re in charge of a lot or
a little, keep Spitzer’s example in mind. You want folks to
cheer your ascension not your fall. You can beat hubris by
treating folks like colleagues and instead of
subordinates. No one will forget who the boss is and
everyone will appreciate the respect. When you treat people well
you’ll discover that—unlike Eliot Spitzer—you’ll never have to
worry about being, “caught.”
—Ebert
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