A CASE STUDY IN LEADERSHIP FAILURE

Last week, Americans witnessed the first ever ousting of a Speaker of the House of Representatives, held by Republican, Kevin McCarthy. The motion to vacate was led by fellow Republican Matt Gaetz of Florida. Every Democrat voted with Gaetz, as did eight Republicans.

If we could put politics aside for a moment, LOL, there are very important lessons in leadership to glean from McCarthy’s actions that led to his eviction. These lessons transcend politics and are relevant no matter what leadership role you’re in.

So, let’s take a deeper look and examine Speaker McCarthy’s failure in leadership and see what lessons we can learn.

At the very core of his ouster was the issue of TRUST. McCarthy was said to often promise one thing in private which was directly contradicted by his actions. This is synonymous with poor leadership qualities.

The words of a leader must match their actions. Earning the trust of those around you is crucial. You must be willing to do what you say you will and not just pay lip service.

But doing what you say you will is not just an issue of integrity, it’s also a matter of courage. Pressure to appease multiple stakeholders with diverging interests can be challenging. Balancing those interests requires skill, but may not always be possible. Standing strong by the convictions you espouse may not be popular, but you will earn respect.

This dovetails into another one of McCarthy’s leadership flaws; he is known to be a people pleaser. Those who met Kevin at donor events said that he was charming and personable but seemed to place too much importance on being liked. He would have been better served to take a page out of Nancy Pelosi’s book; she was less liked than she was feared. Regardless of her political posture, she was highly effective as a House Speaker.

In corporate, we often see leaders with this flaw. New leaders especially try to win their popularity by being too friendly and casual. Then, when the time comes to assert authority, it’s tough to pull back those reigns. Setting those boundaries from the beginning is necessary. It is best said in the movie Jerry Maguire, “it’s not show friends, it’s show business.”

And the final flaw that I’ll address here is the contract. Kevin McCarthy was so desperate to be speaker that it took 15 rounds of votes. With each round, McCarthy was forced to give up more concessions. One of those concessions was his agreement to change House rules that would make it easier to trigger an effective no-confidence vote. This is what made his ouster easily possible.

I raise this point because contracts MATTER. Negotiating the DETAILED terms of your agreement before you take a role is critical. You have the most leverage before you sign on the dotted line AND desperate actions will always come back and haunt you. Just ask Kevin.