The head of the Northern Ireland Water company is reported as set to resign following extensive water shortages brought on by the cold weather. The commander of an American aircraft carrier has been fired after showing his crew sexually abusive videos. The one thing both these events have in common is that they are bosses of public organisations.
The firing of the American commander is no surprise and no bad thing. But many of his crew rallied to his defence. ‘He was trying to entertain and motivate us’ they claim. By contrast the expected resignation of the water chief is a political demand; nobody really believes that he could have repaired all Northern Ireland’s ageing water pipes in his short tenure, but he had to go because that’s what happens to the bosses of public companies who fail to deliver.
The question is, what would have happened if they had been bosses of private sector companies? Would their ability to deliver profits (assuming they did) override their moral and political obligations. Or would the company’s shareholders take a stand in the same way as the stakeholders in a public sector body tend to do?
It’s tough being a boss. Bosses have to show leadership. Bosses who discriminate against groups of people, as the American commander is said to have done regarding gays, are not showing leadership. Nor are bosses who cannot command the confidence of their stakeholders, like the water chief.
But a boss who shows leadership tends to stay in post. Even those who led the world into financial chaos. Funny isn’t it?
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