Moral Courage to Challenge Others

I recently watched the Netflix documentary, Downfall: The Case Against Boeing. The story examines the 2019 Boeing 737 MAX incidents, where two airliners crashed killing a combined 346 people and how Boeing may have been more concerned with financial gain over the safety of their passengers. Here's what the director, Rory Kennedy, had to say about the 21st-century history of Boeing:

"There were many decades when Boeing did extraordinary things by focusing on excellence and safety and ingenuity. Those three virtues were seen as the key to profit. It could work, and beautifully. And then they were taken over by a group that decided Wall Street was the end-all, be-all. There needs to be a balance in play, so you have to elect representatives that hold the companies responsible for the public interest, rather than just lining their own pocketbooks."

Note: Even though Boeing?denied former CEO Dennis Muilenburg severance when he was ousted for his handling of the 737 Max crisis, he walked away with more than $60 million in pension benefits and stock.

I was rightfully angered after watching the documentary. It's just another example of the consequences of unrestrained power, greed, and arrogance. The lack of moral courage within the executive ranks at Boeing resulted in the deaths of 346 people. To me, that kind of behavior was unconscionable.

Here's an article on the importance of having the moral courage to challenge others. It's written by my good friend and business partner, Lawson Magruder.

The Moral Courage to Challenge Others

Over the last few years, we have been reading about one scandal after another where senior leaders in both the civilian and military ranks have demonstrated poor judgment through inappropriate conduct. Each time I read about one of these scandals, I wonder how long this went on and who knew about it and failed to confront the senior leader or report the behavior to higher authority. Each scandal has resulted in a stain on the senior leader’s institution, public embarrassment, some form of punishment, and career derailment. In each instance, sadly I suspect, there were superiors, subordinates and peers along the way who turned a blind eye to what was going on and did not have the moral courage to challenge their business associate or friend to stop the inappropriate behavior.

?I suspect we each have known someone who has suffered a derailment that could have been stopped if we or someone else had stepped in to challenge the leader. The saddest case I witnessed was a senior military leader- a peer general officer- whose career was terminated due to alcoholism and then he sadly died within months of his retirement. Through the years since his passing, I have heard many state that they knew he was a heavy drinker even at an early age but “he always got the job done to a very high standard”. I have always wondered how many should have intervened along the way. A superior? A peer? A CSM? A subordinate? Perhaps it would have fractured their relationship but have inspired him to change his destructive behavior.

The courage to challenge others is a behavior that we ask to be assessed on our Authentic Leader 360 Assessment. Typically, respondents focus on the leader’s ability to challenge subordinates or direct reports not their courage to challenge a superior or supervisor. Usually, the excuse given for not challenging senior leaders is fear of retribution, a severe reaction, denial, or rejection. How many of us failed to challenge a superior in the past and then later found out that the leader ended up heading down the path of self-destruction, career derailment, a divorce, serious health issue, and an extremely adverse impact on junior leaders’ careers, the team’s morale, and mission accomplishment? How many of us look in our rearview mirror with regret that we did not have the courage, the guts to give timely advice to a friend, a business associate, a senior leader when we observed self-destructive behavior? To a friend who was living beyond their means? To a friend who was abusing alcohol or drugs? To a peer who was pressing the envelope with verbal or physical abuse of others? To a superior who was having an inappropriate relationship with the spouse of the subordinate or peer? Perhaps because we didn't intervene in a timely matter, the leader got on the slippery slope of self-destruction and to the point of no return. Regrets we have all had a few.

The questions that we should all be pondering are:

How can we prevent ourselves from the path of self-destruction and how can we approach someone we know is heading in the wrong direction?

Here are a few tips:

Self-Protection:

·?Place your True Growth model in a prominent place in your office to periodically grade yourself on how you're living your own personal values which are the nucleus of your character.

·?Have a confidant/ombudsman/”watchdog” in your life who can come into your space at any time and provide feedback and advice to you. You must be open to feedback.

·?Frequently look yourself in the mirror and ask the question: “Am I bringing honor to myself, my family and/or my organization with my actions?” If the answer is “no”, then you need to change your behavior immediately. Perhaps you will need the help of a professional to address an issue like an addiction.

· Periodically ask for feedback from your direct reports on your behavior. Challenge them to challenge you when your behavior is inappropriate and not in alignment with your organizational and personal values. Ask for anonymous feedback on specific behaviors. Perhaps a good place to start is with the questions on our 360° assessment. Ask for a “+”/Delta on your behaviors.

Helping Others:

· Before you approach the leader, ensure you have specifics to share with them. If you have personally observed the inappropriate behavior, you need to provide the time, place, and specifics.

· If you have been provided information from another about a friend or leader in your chain of command, you need to corroborate the information before you confront the leader.

· If you need assistance in delivering the message to a superior, perhaps a peer of his or her may be of assistance in carrying the message. A tough call to take it outside your chain of command but it may work better

· Your feedback needs to be timely and provided in private.

· If you feel like the behavior is putting the unit’s mission and its personnel at risk, you are obligated to pass the observation on to the next leader in your chain for his/her action.

·?You must realize that the initial reaction of the leader may be anger, emotion, or rejection but oftentimes you will have planted the seed for immediate change of their behavior. Hopefully they will thank you someday for “saving them from themselves”!?

True Growth Takeaway: You need to have the moral courage to challenge a friend or business associate who is heading for derailment because of inappropriate behavior.

True Growth Journaling Questions: Is there a friend or business associate in your life right now who needs to be challenged to change their inappropriate behavior before it results in personal embarrassment or negatively impacting the unit’s mission or possible derailment of their career? If so, what steps do you need to take to help your friend?

?About the author: Lawson Magruder has been coaching professionals, mentoring leaders, and building highly effective teams for more than four decades. He led soldiers in combat in Vietnam and Somalia and as a general officer he commanded three large Army organizations to include the historic 10th Mountain Division. Retiring as a Lieutenant General after 32 years of service, he transitioned into the corporate and academic cultures building enduring research partnerships in the homeland security arena, publicly sharing his leadership journey at seminars and conferences, serving as an executive coach for leaders in the federal and private sectors, and a senior mentor for Army leaders and units. Among his numerous awards, he is a member of the 75th Ranger Regiment Hall of Fame, the US Army Ranger Hall of Fame, the US Army ROTC Hall of Fame, and is an Outstanding Alumnus of the U.S. Army War College. He has been married to Gloria for over 47 years and they are blessed to have three children and four grandchildren.