News International and its leaders have been whirring in the background (and sometimes the foreground) for weeks now. That story took me way back to cheap beer and “fuelled” debate as I studied the fourth edition of Power Without Responsibility once upon a time. That book talked about the Fourth Estate, here in the 21st century it’s the leadership (bosses?) under our scrutiny.
Meanwhile, back on the sofa, I settled in to watch BBC 4’s Great Thinkers: In Their Own Words, which started this week. I was chuffed to bits that they started with Human, All Too Human, which featured many of the people I studied back at Bradford University. Up popped Stanley Milgram, arguably among our most influential leadership contributors. His most famous study, known as the Milgram Experiment, investigated the atrocities of the Second World War and asked how they – Nazis – could possibly behave without conscience. What Milgram discovered is that we – people – can behave that way when told to do so by a figure of authority.
That discovery has informed deployment of authority in organisations ever since, with empowering individuals alongside increased responsibility now the ideal. With the help of education and, dare I praise it, the Internet, we’ve moved from “Yes, Sir!” to “Here’s what I think” from everyone in around the table.
Then I came online and reached Gill Corkindale on the Harvard Busines Review, top ranked by LinkedIn, who said News International leaders had been challenged with “wilful blindness”, legalese for “ignorance is no excuse”.
Bosses (leaders?), practically 50 years on from Milgram’s experiment, are still dividing responsibility and power very much in their own interests, creating underperforming organisations with oppressive cultures.
Adrian Gaskell, for the Chartered Management Institute, makes a strong case against the hazards.
Power and responsibility go together like bread and butter, each too strong or too bland on its own. And still we all know, and can all see, that many people in business end up with crusts.
Thank you to my fellow bloggers, on whose shoulders I wobble.
Some other leadership headlines piqued my interest and, being me, I dug and dug to find their source. This is the best write-up I’ve managed to find:
At present I’m my own boss, and will continue to be supportive, transparent and, as ever, sceptical about The Fourth Estate J
What about you…?
