An In-Depth Look at Unethical Leadership
It is rare for the news media to look at government ethics any more
deeply than a particular scandal, usually one involving law-breaking,
money, sex, or a public argument between parties or within a party. The
vice-presidential nomination of Sarah Palin has led to the most
in-depth look at government ethics for a long time.<br>
<br>
<a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/14/us/politics/14palin.html" target="”_blank”">An
article in yesterday's New York Times</a> sets out a number of the
hallmarks of unethical leadership. It is not important whether Ms.
Palin actually did what people have accused her of doing (spokespeople
have denied or refused to respond to just about everything). What is
important is this opportunity to see what unethical leadership looks
like, even where its elements are legal and involve neither money nor
sex. What it looks like is a pattern of actions that blur the differences between personal and governmental
interests.<br>
<br>
The governor is said to have appointed school friends to posts for
which they have no qualifications and at salaries far higher than they
had had before. She is said to demonize those who disagree with her and
to pursue personal vendettas in a government context. Her
administration is said to put "a premium on loyalty and secrecy,"
including the use of personal e-mail addresses in order to circumvent
possible subpoenas. She is said to have made FOI requests impossibly
expensive when they would show that she has been making
misrepresentations. She is said to have ordered city employees not to
talk to the press. She is said to have made major budget decisions with
her budget director and her husband, without consulting with
legislative leaders or mayors. She is said to rarely respond to mayors'
requests for meetings, and does not give warning of her decisions to
legislators. When she does meet with politicians, her husband (not a
government official) is often in attendance (for more on her husband's
role, see <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/14/us/politics/14todd.html" target="”_blank”">the
companion article</a>).<br>
<br>
She is said to have bought herself an SUV with city money. She is said
to have conducted her gubernatorial campaign from her mayoral office.
Her special assistant is said to frequently interact with the
governor's children. In less than two years in office, she has
reportedly spent 312 nights at home, about 600 miles away from her
office. And last, but not least, is the well-known accusation that she
pressured an official to fire a state trooper going through a divorce
with the governor's sister.<br>
<br>
Politics is full of pettiness, but this is more unprofessional than
unethical. Unethical leadership essentially announces that there is
little distinction between the personal and the political, that when a
person has been elected to office, they become one and the same thing.
It is approprate to use the office for personal ends, to reward old
friends, to harm old enemies, to protect and reward oneself, to close
out anyone not in the inner circle.<br>
<br>
Unethical leaders trust few people, and turn political issues into
personal issues, making them more difficult to resolve. Unethical
leaders work on fear, using threats, especially the threat of being
closed out, and firing people to make it clear that they mean business. The most frightening statement in the article comes from
the governor's campaign manager when she first ran for mayor in 1996:
"I'm still proud of Sarah, but she scares the bejeebers out of me."<br>
<br>
When the Republican speaker of the house hired a classmate of the
governor's, who had been fired by the governor when she had learned
"that he had fallen in love with another longtime friend," the
governor's husband called the speaker and said he was unhappy with the
hiring. "The Palin family gets upset at personal issues," the speaker
told the <span>Times,</span> "and at our
level, they want to strike back."<br>
<br>
A conservative radio host and longtime friend of the governor's
supported her vocally in her bid for governor, but when he later
criticized her desire to raise taxes on oil companies, he found himself
branded a "hater." "It is part of a pattern, Mr. Fagan said, in which
Ms. Palin characterizes critics as 'bad people who are anti-Alaska.'"<br>
<br>
This approach to government rubs off on others. For example, the
Chamber of Commerce in the governor's city asked its members to refer
all calls from the press to the governor's office. One city
councilwoman said she thought, "I don't remember giving up my First
Amendment rights." But most likely other members did what they were
told, fearful of the consequences.<br>
<br>
Fear is the chief result of unethical leadership. And lack of trust in
government by citizens, as well as lack of trust within government,
which can be equally damaging, are the other most serious results.<br>
<br>
Sarah Palin, as pictured in this article, is unfortunately not out of
the ordinary, although perhaps a bit extreme. This picture of her shows that not only
machines can be closed and based on fear. Those who fight them and win
can take on the very same characteristics. The article also shows that people
who act in this manner are very successful. The White House has had
numerous unethical leaders who cannot distinguish themselves from their
offices, who distort their offices by acting personally rather than
officially, and who thereby poison their organizations with fear and
strife, thereby failing to fulfill their obligations as government officials.<br>
<br>
<i>Update:</i> <a href="http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_co… Associated Press investigation</a> of Gov. Palin's actions as mayor of Wasilla adds to the picture of unethical leadership, this time solely at the local level. Although she was up front about her interests, this did not stop her from participating in the matters. Among the additional hallmarks of unethical leadership are the following:<br>
<br>
Getting zoning variances in order to sell a home.<br>
<br>
Loosening rules for snow-machine races, when she and her husband owned a snow-machine store and he was a champion racer (she did recuse herself from voting on a grant for a race).<br>
<br>
Accepting gifts from local merchants.<br>
<br>
These are relatively minor, and typical, acts in a small town. But they set a tone of Help Yourself for all officials and employees.<br>
<br>
Robert Wechsler<br>
Director of Research-Retired, City Ethics<br>
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