Joseph L. Badaracco, Jr.

Deanna Calvin
Tim Kastelic

MBA 635: Social & Ethical Responsibilities

for Managers

February 25, 2010

 Leading Quietly
 A four-year study of understanding what
constitutes quiet leaders.

 Badaracco draws on powerful real life

experiences from managers challenged with
everyday business problems.

 Leading Quietly highlights how these

managers demonstrate effective leadership
skills in subtle ways.
Rebecca Olson & Richard Millar

 Rebecca Olson was hired as the CEO of St.

Clements Hospital in Omaha Nebraska.

 A few days after Olsen started her position

she was made aware that a clerical
employee with a physical disability was
filing a complaint with the state employee
agency accusing the hospital’s vice
president of operations, Richard Millar of
sexual harassment and discrimination.
Rebecca Olson & Richard Millar

 Richard Millar was a long time employee

who was considered an insider within the
organization.

 Olson knew that a scandal would severely

hurt the reputation of the hospital and…

 If Millar was found to be guilty, the victim

could file a lawsuit against the hospital
costing them millions.
Rebecca Olson & Richard Millar

 Olson knew that Richard Millar needed to be

fired but was not sure how to do it.

 Firing Millar would also meet the demand of

the victim in which case she would not go to
the state board.
Rebecca Olson & Richard Millar

 Olson decided she would not fire Millar and

would not charge him with sexual
harassment. Instead, she would try to get
him to resign.

 Before asking for his resignation, Olson

decided to get “All her ducks lined up”. She
broke her problem up into a series of small
steps.
Rebecca Olson & Richard Millar

 Olson prepared a detailed report on the

investigation, knowing that her actions had
to both comply with the law on sexual
harassment and also respect Millar’s rights
as someone accused of a serious offense.

 Olson met privately with each board

member and made a case that they needed
to ease Millar out of his job.
Rebecca Olson & Richard Millar

 Once Olson had her plan in place she called a

meeting with Millar and asked for his
resignation.

 She described the findings of the case and

told him of the severance package that the
board had approved.

 After begging to not be fired, Millar signed

the letter of resignation.
 4 Guiding Principles
You Don’t Know Everything: Do not exaggerate
1 how much you really know.

You will be surprised: No matter how much you

2 prepare, expect to be surprised.

“Keep an eye on the insiders”: Insiders are

3 typically the winners of the long and intense
struggle for senior positions.

Trust…but cut the cards: Quiet leaders give their

4 trust carefully.
 The New New Servers
 Frank Taylor – senior marketing rep for
Cybersystems.

 Client was Robertson & Bayless, large

Chicago law firm.

 Taylor was on the verge of selling firm a

new web server when they hired new IT
director who preferred competitors’
products.
 The New New Servers
 Taylor managed to salvage the deal and
planned to sell the S50 server.

 Before deal closed, Cybersystems launched

S60 server – faster and cheaper.

 Now firm wanted S60 server.

 Competitor had a deal waiting in the wings.

 The New New Servers
 Taylor developed new offer under “Win-
Win”, Cybersystems’ new promotional
campaign.

 Firm would get S60 and other discounted

equipment.

 Firm would accept offer only if new system

could be networked with legacy system.
 The New New Servers
 “Win-Win” prohibited S60 from being
networked to older systems.

 Frank’s Dilemma: Does he keep the deal

afloat by breaking company policy?

 Complexity of issue: High principles and

good character are not substitutes for
specialized knowledge – strong convictions
can blind people to subtle nuances that are
critical to practical, responsible action.
 Four Guidelines

 Remember your responsibilities

 Look at your fish

 Don’t go it alone

 Don’t be afraid to back off

 Remember your Responsibilities

 Don’t let complexities obscure your

responsibilities.

 Complexity can serve as a smokescreen for

wrongdoing.

 Complexity leads to fatigue and confusion for

people with sound ethics.

 Understanding the problem creates

responsibility.
 Look at Your Fish
 Agassiz – 19th century American Scientist.

 Graduates students had to study small, ordinary

fish for weeks.

 Ultimately learned minute details: Scale patterns,

teeth arrangement, eye coloring.

 Frank’s application – understand the problem from

a variety of perspectives.
 Don’t Go It Alone
 Avoid the impulse to be a hero.

 “Naturalistic” decision-making: recognizing

subtle patterns, evoking past experiences,
making the right judgment.

 Gather perspectives from a wide variety of

sources and rethink the problem.
Don’t Be Afraid to Back Off
 If you’re in over your head, the morally
responsible thing to do is buy more time
and get the problem into the right hands.

 What are the signs?

• Consultation leads nowhere
• Unable frame issue in simple, newspaper English
• Conflicting insights
• Nagging puzzle piece that won't fit
 Three Quiet Virtues
 Restraint: Sometimes instinct is to react –
Quiet Leaders have patience and self-discipline.

 Modesty: Quiet Leaders know they are not

changing the world.

 Tenacity: Matters because it runs counter to

Restraint and Modesty – Quiet Leaders
conceive, create and slowly construct the right
answer.
Question or Comments