Leading by Example

A recent nominee for the post of the Secretary of the Treasury has had his issues. It seems that this career Treasury official has not found a way to remain in compliance with the IRS tax code, a code that his organization is charged with enforcing. Whether this was related to a lack of knowledge or was intentional, we don't know for sure. To me, it makes no difference why or how this happened, only that it happened.

One can take any number of views of this incident. If you are NOT a politician or partisan, your view of this kind of behavior can be radically different from the standard party line. From a leadership perspective, I would make the following observations.

Do we want our leaders to be above board and beyond reproach? I think the answer is, indeed, we do. Given that, this type of incident simply should disqualify the candidate from further consideration.

Now, this may make me seem like some kind of a "harda**" or at least, lacking in compassion. Do we demand that our leaders be "perfect?"

My response is somewhat direct and to the point.

Yes, I am and I do. When it comes to the senior leaders within the Federal government and other similar institutions, my standards are extremely high indeed. You may ask, why such a high standard?

The short answer is, that these institutions only work when they are built on a foundation of integrity, rigor, and fairness. How the institution be taken seriously when it can it can simply slough off the tax related foibles of the nation's chief tax collector? Shouldn't this person, among all of us, have taken great care to comply with the very laws he is sworn to uphold.

To me, it is a sign of disrespect to the institution, and to we, the citizens, that this individual insists on pursuing this job. Integrity and self-respect would suggest that he withdraw his name from consideration.

Failing that, the President-elect should step in and do the right thing. The risk of embarrassment pales in comparison to the cost in credibility.