Sex, Scandals, and C-Suites

I never cease to be amazed at the number of sex scandals we see in C-suites and the last few weeks illustrate this. One scandal involved the CEO of a large public company having an inappropriate relationship with an employee and not disclosing it; the other the president of a large Christian university whose wife was having an affair with his knowledge and allegedly with him watching. This raises the age-old question: Why do smart people do such stupid things?

I’ve studied and taught HR executives about what I call “Executive Frailties” or the fact that all people, under the right circumstances, may do the wrong thing. In large part these fall into two categories: Opportunism (selfish behavior no matter who gets hurt) and Hubris (excessive pride to the point of thinking one knows far more than anyone around them). The higher you go (in the organization) the stronger they grow, and when the selfish motivation meets self-serving opportunity, bad things happen. 

Why does it happen more the higher one goes in the organization? In essence, the higher in the hierarchy, the more people under the leader who want to ingratiate themselves. So, they constantly tell the executive how great he or she is, are less likely to question or criticize them, and always agree with them. In addition, with promotions comes more money and money sends a signal of worth. So over time executives CAN become increasingly self-focused, narcissistic, and greedy and begin to feel that they are above the rules. 

As this happens, what circumstances create the conditions that an executive might exhibit such behavior?  As one begins to think the rules don’t apply and they believe they will not get caught because no one around them is suspicious, they likely give into the temptation. While I am sure women executives have engaged in inappropriate relationships, we know about far more men doing so, such as the two mentioned above. Why did they think they would not get caught? 

First, there was no authority above rigorously monitoring and digging to identify any potentially inappropriate relationships. In both cases, the board should have served as the supervisory authority to constantly investigate more deeply than simply accepting whatever the leader tells them. This is not to say that the boards were necessarily inept, but that they were not thorough. I do not want to Monday-morning quarterback, but I suspect that signals existed but were ignored. 

Second, the executive lacked a truth-teller in their lives. Everyone needs some trusted counselor who can tell us when we begin to get a little off-track so that we can course-correct before disaster strikes. It may be a spouse, a close friend, or a work colleague. In fact, often this is the most critical role that a CHRO plays…being the one person who tells a CEO the truth. What can CHROs or HR leaders do?

·      Contract up front with the CEO/Business leader to be a truth teller

·      Leverage data (360-degree feedback, Glass Door ratings, engagement surveys) to ensure the leader hears uncomfortable messages

·      Ensure that clear standards for relationships exist

·      Constantly look for signs that the leader may be getting off track

·      Identify situations that may lead to a scandal, such as flirtatious behavior, travel with certain individuals, holding late meetings with alcohol present, and discourage the leader from engaging in them

·      When necessary, have the hard conversation to tell they leader what they are doing wrong

This speaks to why courage has emerged as one of the most important characteristics of a CHRO. If the CHRO has the badge-on-the-table moment and succeeds, they may help the CEO avert career disaster. If, on the other hand, they look the other way, or worse yet, enable the behavior, they deserve to suffer the same fate as the CEO.