What happens when leaders fail to provide clear and honest information to each other, their employees, clients, and/or to the public?
I'll give you a hint: significant career and brand damage.
The ongoing drama of the Hewlett Packard board is an object lesson. Fears of further litigation may be the reason top-ranking HP executives, including the recently-resigned Chariman of the Board, Patricia C. Dunn, avoided candor yesterday as they testified (or, more accurately, side-stepped testimony) before a congressional subcommittee.
In response to questions about unethical investigation practices, in which members of the HP board and the media were targeted for spying, as ordered by Chairman Dunn, she said, "I do not accept personal responsibility for what happened." HP is a public company, and as such the public has a right to know what happened. The public can also expect its officers to take--and certainly not to avoid--responsibility.
Transparency would be refreshing here -- imagine Ms. Dunn as a more transparent leader:
- This is what we thought, and what we feared was happening on the board.
- This is what I ordered done about it.
- This is what happened - the investigation went way overboard, and it was on my watch.
- Here were the unintended consequences.
- I accept full responsibility, which is why I resigned.
Transparency is always harder when something bad happened or is happening, which is why it takes leadership. It takes the courage to learn and to change, regardless of who may sue who as a result.
If that's a lot to ask of someone, then they aren't a leader.
