Bountygate---Where were Coach Peyton and GM Loomis?

Last week more information surfaced on the New Orleans Saints “bountygate” program where Defensive Coordinator Gregg Williams incentivized defensive players for “knocking out” key opponent offensive players. As the NFL looked into the pay for injury program, they discovered that Head Coach Sean Peyton and General Manager Mickey Loomis both were aware of William’s motivational efforts. Without question most rational people would balk at the thought of trying to physically injure another human being in the pursuit of winning a game and yet Loomis and Peyton turned their heads and ignored the despicable incentive program that clearly violated their leadership responsibility.

Why would talented and successful executives accept a program that flies in the face of good judgment and basic humanity? Quite often I have seen leaders give responsibility to subordinates to do a job and then absolve themselves from the processes that are implemented. This is a sure fire way to put yourself as a leader into an extremely vulnerable and dangerous position. Because someone else may have direct supervision of a program, you as a leader cannot accept the belief that you do not have the ultimate responsibility for the actions of the project manager. Every leader needs to realize that people are human and that some of your followers, irrespective of what you do, will make bad decisions and that you MUST deal with those bad decisions in a timely and appropriate way.

Peyton and Loomis both acknowledge that Williams “bountygate” program was wrong and that they were aware of it. However neither saw fit to do anything about it because they were more concerned about the short-term result of winning football games. All leaders needs to understand that not everyone in the “leadership cabinet” will have a big picture and understand the long-term implications of certain decisions. Quite often people who are in significant positions under the leader are motivated to be successful and will be focused on an immediate result with no real feeling for the “down the road”.

Leaders cannot be naïve and believe that everyone under their direction is going to “do the right thing”. So while many leadership books will encourage leaders to “not micromanage” their people, realize that you are the ultimate authority and need to know what is going on in every area of your responsibility. By being engaged with your organization and engaging your followers in a meaningful way, you will know what is going on and be aware of any potential areas of concern. Leaders who insulate themselves from the day to day operations are making a huge mistake. When you find out that something is amiss, address it immediately. When leaders look the other way, they lose credibility among all their constituents and promote a very bad climate for their organization. By ignoring unacceptable practices, the leader basically is fostering a philosophy that anything goes as long as it works and you don’t get caught. That philosophy is reminiscent of old time comedian Flip Wilson’s line, “A lie is as good as the truth, if you can get somebody to believe it.” I do not think any leader wants to be viewed as a subscriber to the Flip Wilson philosophy.