Leadership in Error (aka "How not to do a Gordon")

Gordon Brown did the classic mistake of talking privately with the microphone on, which is the political comedy version of the speaker at a wedding doing the same thing as he goes to the loo and bad mouths the parents of the bride.

Rather brilliantly though Gordon Brown didn’t stop there, no! He hurtled on with reckless speed and a gathering momentum:

• He bad mouthed an old lady
• Blamed his aid
• Went to a radio show, didn’t realise he was being filmed and showed his true reactions
• Thinking it would help (it didn’t, it looked staged, because it was) went to the ladies house to apologise
• Didn’t think to do so to his aid, after bad mouthing her too

Frankly as an Executive Coach, even I don’t know where to start, especially as this sits on top of allegations of ‘bullying’ his staff, to which a senior civil servant trying to help said, “Gordon isn’t a bully he just has very high expectations!” (Like Stalin?)

OK! Well enough with the comedy, there is a serious point here which has to do with management of ones personal brand. I could go onto to give some facile tips on what not to do:

• Always check your microphone is off
• Ensure you don’t talk ill of others

But the reality is that though accurate, it’s not good enough, the key here is a person’s personal moral compass and the culture/environment that they build around them.

Moral Compass
Do you believe in only talking of people when they are not in the room, in the same manner you do when they are?

Culture
Do you encourage people to give you honest and open feedback, that you don’t just tolerate, but that you actively encourage, to the point it is aberrant behaviour to not give honest ‘support & challenge’?

When it comes to making mistakes as a leader, the most important thing to remember is that often it is as important to STOP and take a moment to seek counsel, not from those that will tell you how to manage the situation (which is still relevant), but to seek counsel from those who can advise you on who to BE, as the situation unfolds; and frankly the person you are being will dictate the experience and thus your credibility as people judge you for what you are doing (which sometimes you’ll get right and sometimes you won’t).

Gordon Brown tried to ‘control & stage manage’ the situation, he consciously or unconsciously asked himself,”what should I do?”; which is the right question to ask, but he asked it at the wrong  time. His reflex questions, your reflex questions, the reflex questions of any leader should be:

• “Who am I going to be in this situation?”
• “What would a good version of me do next?”