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More than being right....
Written by: Paul BridleArticle Overview: We can have the right to do something, but is it the right thing to do? It is very easy to point to our ‘rights’ and justify why we want to do something.
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Free Download - An Accountant or a Leader - but rarely both By Paul Bridle |
More than being right....
Benjamin Franklin expressed it so very well when he said, “Everything one has the right to do, is not best done”. Take a moment and read that again.
We can have the right to do something, but is it the right thing to do? It is very easy to point to our ‘rights’ and justify why we want to do something. I remember when I was a child my Mother got angry with me over something. I reminded her that she had told me that it was wrong to get angry! She replied, “I have the right to be angry, I am your Mother”.
Looking back on that story makes me laugh, but there is an important aspect to this that we as leaders need to consider. How many times have you done something similar in your life? To your children, your spouse, your work colleagues, your staff or to someone you are meant to be an example to?
Maybe you were right to be indignant, angry, annoyed or whatever, but was it the right thing to do?
We see it around us all the time. We are told it was the right thing to do to go into Iraq and get rid of Saddam Hussein. Maybe it was the right thing to do. But was it the right thing to do at that time? Afghanistan was not yet dealt with and taking on Iraq has now made the situation worse in Afghanistan.
I am not being political, but it is so easy to speak about rights and even about what is right, but that does not make it the right thing to do.
Let us consider the following examples:
One of your employees has done something wrong and caused a problem with a customer. You are angry because if they had been honest about the problem, you could have dealt with it before it got out of hand. You have the right to start the disciplinary process. But is it the right thing to do?
As a leader our job is to consider the whole situation from every angle before we exert our rights or do what we think is right.
Why was that person not honest about the problem? Is there something about us that has made us unapproachable on certain issues? Is there something that we don’t know about happening that got in the way of the person approaching us? Has this person had the necessary training to know how to handle the situation in the way we wanted it handled?
These questions make us think about what is the right way of handling it, as opposed to what we feel is our right or how we would like to handle it to make us feel better!!!!
And that raises another question about how we should deal with this situation. What is the right way to deal with this person in terms of how others will perceive us? Obviously to leave it would send a signal that making this sort of mistake doesn’t matter. But at the same time, to handle it in the wrong way may make people feel sorry for the person who made the mistake. Your handling of it (although you are right) may create issues that effect you going forward.
‘Being’ a leader requires us to know our rights but also to know what is the right thing to do from every angle. We can be right from one angle and not from another.
Leaders have a responsibility to help their people get the right perspective as well. People tend to hide behind their rights or to jump to the conclusion about what they think is the right thing to do. They need coaching to develop the ability to differentiate the options and identify the right actions for the situation.
I think that is right.
Paul Bridle
Leadership Methodologist
June 2008
Article Tags: afghanistan, benjamin franklin, iraq, job, saddam hussein, work colleagues
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