It’s time to talk about leadership and how our roles affect the outcomes of our protégé’s. I read an article a little more than a week ago that left a sour note in my head, a tainted taste on my tongue and a perception of thought that left me thinking…do we follow policies to the “nth” degree for the sake of following directions or have we allowed policies to cloud our judgments?
Some of you may have caught the issue – Sprint fired two employees from engaging in the act of helping a fellow employee/teammate to catch a thief within a business environment that all three shared. (1) The place was Denver’s Cherry Creek Mall. The crime – a shoplifter from a nearby store who was making his “get away”. The hero was the Mall Security Guard in pursuit, but having trouble catching the thief. The guard recognized two employees who were on their break and displayed both a physical and verbal need for help. The two employees obliged immediately, in the spirit of teamwork, the duty of catching a criminal, and the motivation of pure and natural behavior of helping a fellow man do the right thing. The two employees worked for Sprint and the big corporate guy pulled his side arm and said – “You can’t do that” sighting policy and fired the two workers. Now, generally, the policy protects employees from harm and its company from liability. An employee who engages a shoplifter or thief raises a risk to being pushed, shoved, and thrown or for that matter shot. Even in such cases, shoplifters who get tagged in a crime, tender fines and receive jail time may still come out ahead in money with millions of dollars from liability law suits if they too are harmed when getting “caught”. Because of this, the corporate giants take all precautionary measures to prevent security losses by incorporating a common policy of “don’t get involved”. Here I question, is the corporate giant also sending a message and training people in society to not get involved for liability issues that spreads out and beyond the business doors? Whatever happened to the Golden Rule? The Golden Rule is an ethical code that basically states that one has a right to “just” treatment and a “responsibility” to ensure justice for others. (2) Or better yet, what about making a citizen’s arrest? Have we forgone the common law as shown by case Ex parte Sherwood, (29 Tex. App. 334, 15 S.W. 812) which defines the common law as "The apprehending or detaining of a person in order to be forthcoming to answer an alleged or suspected crime"? (3) Or, when we’re “on the clock” are we suddenly subjected to waiving our rights as citizens and have to turn our eyes away from criminal acts whereas we can now tout “not my job, man”.
I have heard of similar stories whereas a patient who got shot, makes it to the hospital entrance, but not through the door, falls to the sidewalk and dies in front of hospital staff members who failed to help the potential patient due to administrative policy of “no interference” unless he/she is inside the facility or the recent story I wrote about whereas a homeless man tried to help a lady victim in NY, got stabbed and regular people walked over him, passed him and just gawked at him, without lifting a finger to help the dying man. (4)
Those of us in executive roles play a huge part in not just driving the company’s profit and loss, strategic defenses and offenses, or build upon its market potential, but in the eyes of the community, state, nation and even global perspectives, executives and their decisions set standards for all to follow. We are the role models of society where not just staff, but everyday people extract motivation, ideas, debate and yes, where even laws become effective from various case issues. Executives whether in large or small companies maintain a role to society – a very large ethical role and a powerful one at that. As we all know, with great power comes a great responsibility.
In this case alone, I will say for certain that Sprint should not have fired these two employees, rather, conduct a counseling review and use the incident as an opportunity to set up an in-person training day of the best ways to handle security losses, theft and how to strengthen relations within the mall as such employees do business every day with external staff “internally”. I will be the first executive to say that “policy” is a guide and should not be followed blindly. Every incident, circumstance, element and environment contributes to how we must operate internally and externally. Our effects, affect our staff, our customers and quite frankly, our world. Policies should be followed by staff and management alike, but when it comes to discipline; all must be considered before the gavel is lowered. It’s important to drive consistency and high standards, but with an ethical prowess that makes logical sense. Make your leadership the best it can be. Maybe it’s time to review your current policies and have a few discussions of your own with your own staff to clear up any misnomers that may become an issue later. Have a great week ahead!
Footnotes: (1) Sprint Article; (2) Golden Rule; (3) Citizen's Arrest; (4) Homeless Good Samaritan
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