Editor’s note: This op-ed is by Don Keelan, a certified public accountant and resident of Arlington. The piece first appeared in the Bennington Banner.
June 4 through June 7, 1942, was the time period that for many historians was the turning point of World War II in the Pacific. It was during those four days that the U.S. Navy destroyed four Japanese aircraft carriers and by doing so brought an end to the enemy’s goal of controlling Southeast Asia. The event became known as the Battle of Midway.
What also came out of this historic event was a plethora of U.S Navy leaders, namely, Admirals Chester Nimitz, Frank Fletcher and Raymond Spruance. Countless other officers and enlisted personnel, of course, made the victory possible.
Some time ago, a member of “the Greatest Generation” and a U.S. Army master sergeant in World War II’s European theater of operations, mentioned to me, that “there will never be an event so vast as World War III and the leaders it … produced.” Given the shortage of leaders that prevails today, will it be necessary to have another world war in order to produce future leaders? I hope not.
It appears that not a week goes by without front page news of another scandal unfolding somewhere in the country or abroad involving those we call leaders.
It appears that not a week goes by without front page news of another scandal unfolding somewhere in the country or abroad involving those we call leaders.
These scandals have crossed all sectors of society — sports, religion, education, politics, government, military and business. The common thread that seems to be missing is leadership.
The NFL’s New Orleans Saints’ recent revelation that “bounties” were paid to players to bring injury to players on the opponent’s team had its origins in top management. This despicable development partially eclipsed the MLB drug enhancement story that was the basis for congressional hearings. Of course, the character of leadership was non-existent in the Penn State football team’s facilities. It was there (and elsewhere) that the allegations of sexual abuse of children by the assistant head coach was condoned via silence.
The Roman Catholic Church continues to pay an astronomical financial price for its leaders burying their heads when thousands of children were being sexually abused by its priests.
A recent Wall Street Journal article summarized the lack of leadership by the church this way,
“… throughout it all, the bishops exempted themselves from accountability — even though records showed that feckless inaction by many bishops, or even deliberate malfeasance by some, had allowed abusers to claim many victims.”
The mantra, “No Child Left Behind” is a sick joke for the tens of thousands of youngsters who have left school long before graduation. In New York state alone, it is 25 percent of high school students. The lack of leadership at the primary and high school level is closely followed by the lack of leadership at the college and university level. It would appear that runaway tuition levels are of no concern to college leaders — the market will pay what is asked even while the college academic year continues to shrink.
The American institution that has the most disgraceful lack of leadership is the U.S. Congress. What business in America could sustain itself if it had a 9 percent favorable rating? Congress apparently can and it just points out the total arrogance of its members. Its inability to accomplish the nation’s business is a clear manifestation that it is leaderless at a critical time in American history.
The recent poor behavior by U.S. Secret Service agents (and the military) in Cartagena, Colombia, along with members of the General Services Administration in Las Vegas, clearly points out that many of our government functionaries are reckless — again, no leaders to be found.
The U.S. military, one of the last bastions of leadership, has allowed their “flag” to become partially soiled by allowing several of its members — operating in critical geo-political areas, to bring disgraceful behavior to the world’s newspapers’ front pages.
Of course, the absence of leadership in banking and commerce has had the greatest impact on all of us. What is unfortunate is that there does not seem to be any reason to have hope that it will change. The desire for promotions, perceived pressures, greed and recklessness have drowned out the role of leadership. And it is here that all of us pay an awful price when leadership does not prevail.
On April 16, 2005, I wrote on these pages “Are There Any Great Leaders Around?” Seven years later the answer is no.
