In psychology, the term "identified patient" refers to a family member -- often a child or a teenager -- who acts out and then gets scapegoated for behavior that's really just a predictable response to the stress of dealing with a dysfunctional family.
Tony Hayward, now the former CEO of BP, is noxious and repugnant for all the obvious reasons.
But Hayward is also BP's identified patient. It's true he wanted his privileged, aristocratic life back, even in the midst of the environmental catastrophe his company caused. It's true he wouldn't give up yachting on the weekends, even at the height of the crisis. It's true that he was way out of his depth dealing with the disaster for which he was ultimately responsible.
Hayward misbehaved by saying what he felt. But is there any reason to believe he is appreciably worse as an executive than any of his colleagues? He did spend nearly 30 years rising steadily through the ranks at BP, and he was the guy who reached the top.
Hayward was thrown overboard so that BP has someone to blame, and doesn't have to look at the deeper dysfunctions of an organization that chose him as CEO in the first place. It's exactly what happened at so many banks during the subprime crisis, when they needed sacrificial lambs to appease their critics.
BP's mid-level employees have done a better job than Hayward at putting a caring face on the company in its tv ads. This morning I watched Fred Lemond, head of the cleanup efforts, tell me three times over the course of ten minutes that BP will be there till the last drop of oil is gone.
Before that, it was Darryl Willis, head of claims for the oil spill, explaining in his Louisiana drawl why he and BP are committed to working around the clock to assure that every innocent victim of the crisis gets reimbursed for their losses.
"Folks were talking about paying claims in 30 to 60 days, and I knew that was going to be about 30 days too long," Willis told a reporter. "We needed to get people's claims paid as quickly as possible."
These are the sorts of things we want to believe about the leaders and the companies that operate in our communities.
Unfortunately, the evidence suggests that BP's ads are far more about damage control and public relations than they are about real concern and prompt action.
BP has paid out only a fraction of the claims it has received. On Tuesday, NBC ran a story quoting a series of small businesspeople describing their frustration in trying to get losses reimbursed by BP. Even where claims were paid, recipients got only a fraction of what they sought.
The bigger issue here is the myopic worldview of so many executives who run large public companies. It isn't sufficient any longer to say their only responsibility is to their shareholders, particularly when those shareholders are mostly short-term speculators, who buy in and out of their companies.
We need CEOs and senior executives willing to be reflective -- to ask themselves at least three critical questions about any significant strategic choice they face:
1. How will this decision add longer-term value not just to the company, but also to the larger community we serve?
2. What are the potential costs of this decision to any of our constituencies, and am I doing enough to mitigate them?
3. Is this a decision that reflects me operating at my best?
Great leaders are characterized by a big view -- the broadest possible perspective on the effects of their actions, and the constituencies they influence. The world's biggest companies now have the power and reach of large countries, and a corresponding need to think beyond their own borders.
It's all well and good that Tony Hayward is finally gone. The deeper problem is the system that produced him.
Follow Tony Schwartz on Twitter: www.twitter.com/TonySchwartz
Robert Reich: The Final Lesson of BP
The will of the American people is being subordinated to the demands of giant money-making machines called global corporations that can now spend or threaten to spend unlimited amounts of money in support of any politician.
Andy Borowitz: BP Replaces Tony Hayward with Startled Deer
"Clearly he's a little rough around the edges," said BP board chairman Carl-Henric Svanberg. "But he still did better than Tony."
David Bolchover: Tony Hayward and Those CEO Myths
We need to draw broader lessons from the Tony Hayward saga. The myth of CEO omnipotence and its twin misconception, the myth of rare executive talent, cost us dear and must be challenged vigorously and urgently.
We would be well served to heed Mr. Schwartz's writing, especially in a few years' time when the economy is back on track and Mr. Hayward is installed as a consultant to some powerful, Wall Street law firm.
The human cost of the oil spill and BPs corruption is huge, not only with this oil spill disaster, but with many other losses of life on other BP rigs.
Everyone please take a look at the following tribute by Steve Joynt to the 11 men who died on the Deepwater Horizon, “Oil spill Day 100: The 11 men who died on the Deepwater Horizon”
http://blog.al.com/live/2010/07/oil_spill_day_100_the_11_men_w.html
We can never lose sight of the human cost of BP’s and others’ malfeasance.
Any idea how I can obtain funding for the 1st alternative energy powered, enviromentally friendly concert venue in the world? The business also funds (for the neighborhood in which it does business), a food bank, offers medical assistance to the poor in the community in which it does business and gives away free desalinated water.
Tim
Culture Yard
culture.yard@hotmail.com
An aside about a big picture view, If you want people to have a big picture view, teach them art (how to see) in grade school, high school and college. For a reference on how to do this see the book "Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain" by Betty Edwards.
Where's the stewardship of yesterday's leaders?
Its not all that surprising when you consider that stock prices rule everything. Whoever can boost the price, gets promoted.
We need corporations that operate from a stake-holder model, not just a share-holder model. Who's going to look our for the well being of the whole, not just the bottomline?
A corporation enjoys "personhood" status, but our earth does not. Yes, I am revealing myself to be a tree-hugging euphorian. But seriously, the earth is living and breathing (at least for now) yet its a profiteering, plundering corportation that enjoys the legal status.
Who will stand up for our one and only planet earth?
ME!
Fanned and Faved!
http://stickerobot.com/bp/
You can also download and print your own. Hang them up everywhere!