Innocence and Guilt and Toxic Societal Air
We have another book on the professional sports steroid / drugging saga.The big book distributors are buying in low volumes, according to NPR, because they believe we, the reading public, have steroid fatigue. We haven’t solved the problem; we just are getting used to its being a part of athleticism.
We cannot turn on a newscast or day time talk show without having to listen to Blagojevitch proclaim his innocence and victimization, droning on and on.
Citigroup seems to have no shame.
The Bush Administration continues to believe that, despite finally acknowledging mistakes were made, they truly were doing the right thing.
My fellow consultants continue to moan that they are less able to charge exorbitant fees for their expertise. While not questioning our contribution and competence, and while I have over a quarter century experience learning that independent consultants must charge significantly more to accommodate the additional personal and business expenses, I do believe that some consulting firms have joined the ranks of some highly paid executives who have lost sight of the financial divide between the lowest paid and highest paid contributors in the organization.
Does anyone see a pattern here?
It is easier to believe proclamations of no wrong doing when the accused truly believes no rules, ethics, morals, or laws were violated. Culturally, the very air we breathe may be so toxic that we are lost in the rules of the game to the point that we truly are doing what we must to retain the “right” to offer our competence.
Mark Maguire and Barry Bonds are exceptional athletes. If no steroid abuse were happening in baseball at all, they would still be exceptional athletes. Just perhaps with lesser stats. If the virtual physical enhancement playing field were equal, they would still excel. If they took the “high road” and refused to use any asset available to them while others did, perhaps they would have simply blended into the pack.
What’s a star athlete to do?
I grew up in Illinois, and have watched Illinois and Chicago politics my whole life. Blagojevich is a travesty, whether he is blinded to his own culpability or not. What may be the bigger travesty, though, is that he was just arrogant or narcissistic enough to think he didn’t need to cover his tracks. Was he operating at a level worse than most in his practices, or does he simply have a potty mouth and a temper and bad judgment? We ALL know political corruption is rampant. What is the old saying that Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely? Isn’t that why our Founding Fathers built a constitution of checks and balances? (Which is a story for another day….)
Yet here we are. A governor waging a PR campaign second to none, likely convinced he was only practicing politics as usual. And perhaps he was. If he is the poster child for change, I’m all for it. I’m ready for clean air.
The money people have been greedy and corrupt at many levels, but I venture that many top earners are simply riding the wave of their peers. One must make a certain amount of money and bandy a certain amount of power and money around to be considered “successful” in today’s marketplace. Some just plain want all they can grab. Many are simply playing by the current rules. Some have been probably quite unaware of how out of whack it all really is.
If ambitious professionals want to rise above the masses, they must compete against prevailing norms. Our society’s prevailing norms are toxic, and create choices for many – politicians, athletes, executives , consultants – that verge on the line of narcisisstic lack of other-awareness, and many fall on the common practices side of that line. It’s easy to become unconscious sheep, following blindly what is normal and losing sight of what is right.
Common practices suggest that you have to woo and win and barter and trade and wield money and status sometimes in order to rise in your respective profession. You have to garner and horde power wherever you can so you have the ammunition you need.
Frankly, I want clean societal air. Much is falling around us – beliefs, hopes, dreams, salaries, jobs, housing prices. Believe me, I’m affected directly. I would rather be without a house than steal from someone in the name of “This is the way it’s done around here.” I would rather lose my status in the community than take a job where I know I can’t have a positive impact. It just doesn’t feel right to me. And besides, while I like cash flow and nice things, I’m not driven by them.
I, despite watching my retirement disintegrate around me, breathe the air and make choices. I choose clean air as much as I can find. And yes, I am willing to sacrifice to do that.
Aren’t you?
Shouldn’t our financial institutions? Our professional athletes? Our financial and industry top executives?
And shouldn’t we – as the people of this great society – call them out and support the ones who choose to rid themselves of toxicity they may not have been aware they were breathing in?
We cannot participate in strategic thinking and America’s renewal if we are breathing unconsciously.
We have many choices in front of us. The first is to open our eyes, breathe clean air, expect exceptional humanity from the best of the best, and stop worshiping superstars that cannot sustain super human elitism without great cost to their bodies, all our ethical consciousness, and us.
