When Leaders Fail

About 2 weeks ago, I wrote about courage being a necessary attribute of leaders.

I was reading the news over the past week on SCMP.com and came across this piece of news:

“Police widen Ernst & Young forgery probe”

Have a read and let me know your thoughts.

I’m sure this is not the first time you’ve heard of such a case. The people involved are not low level staff but usually middle-level or above. That is, they are leaders in the companies and in society as well.

Other recent cases abound – just look at the Hong Kong Legco Lawmaker Kam harassment fiasco and this insider-trading fraud case.

And how about the situation in banks since the failure of Lehman Brothers. Who are the ones who asked for and received public money in order to stay afloat?

Here’s the list.

These are the same companies who pay their executives (read: themselves included) huge bonuses (from bailout money) even when the companies are on the brink of collapse.

These are also the same companies which are held at high esteem by so many people around the world – especially students with finance major. You may be one of them and will gladly jump at the opportunity to work in one of these companies.

You would almost think that because the “best” and the “most brilliant minds” run these companies, it is almost impossible for them to fail. Perhaps this is the exact attitude that brought them to their knees.

Looking at these cases, what do you think is lacking in their leadership and management?

My take is: Integrity.

This attribute is not only necessary in leaders. It is REQUIRED to be a properly functioning human-being.

Integrity is the one attribute that ensures all other attributes in a leader.