Good leadership is a function of competencies , character and commitment to doing the hard work
THE THREE PILLARS OF LEADERSHIP
Good leadership is a function of competencies , character and commitment to doing the hard work
By Gerard Seijts , Ivey School of Business
Joe Fontana , the former mayor of London , Ont ., showed poor judgement when he forged a document to use government money to pay for part of his son ’ s wedding in 2005 , while serving as a federal Liberal cabinet minister . This led to a conviction for fraud in 2014 , when Fontana was sentenced to four months of house arrest , followed by 18 months of probation . The fraud in question saved Fontana less than $ 2,000 , while destroying a reputation built over decades of public service . It also subjected his family to years of pain in the media spotlight . As a result , Fontana is a prime example of the personal costs often associated with showing poor judgement . But it is important to note that you don ’ t have to break the rules to be a bad leader . After all , it takes a lot more than simply following the law to be good at job of leadership .
Indeed , with all due respect to Senator Mike Duffy , the former political journalist was not vindicated when acquitted earlier this year on 31 criminal charges of fraud , breach of trust and bribery related to his expenses . While found not guilty of legal wrongdoing , Duffy still clearly failed Canadians by allowing others to convince him it was okay to creatively milk the Senate ’ s tax-funded expense system . According to the court , Duffy technically did nothing wrong . But like Fontana , he still showed poor judgment as a leader and many Canadians will now forever question his ethics and character .
Plenty of good people , of course , let themselves believe it is somehow okay to use technicalities or loopholes to break principles that sit behind rules , especially when they think they can get away with it or someone else says they can get away with it . But there is no strength in numbers in this case . And if you chat with Andrew Fastow , he ’ ll tell you this is a problem of character that is fast approaching epidemic proportions . He sees principle breaking everywhere – in business and politics . And as the former chief financial officer of Enron , he knows what he is talking about .
Good judgment is required to put organizations on a solid footing because it instills trust in stakeholders . It also pays reputational dividends . Calgary ’ s mayor Naheed Nenshi , for example , received widespread praise ( and was even nicknamed “ Superman ”) for the frank and highly visible way that he handled the city ’ s devastating flood in 2013 . Nenshi ’ s
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