Reputation: Building on Trust
Congress to the Market: "Drop Dead!!"
This is the situation we find ourselves - the House of Representatives just rejected the legislation that the leaders in the Congress, Senate and Administrative Agencies of the USA Federal Government worked on for the last several weeks. The general feelings in the country are in some sectors 100 to 1 against the deal. From the top of the social strata through its core down to its base there is a resounding message being spread - It's your problem not mine.
We are so fragmented as a people that something more profound than simply a legislative bailout must be the problem. Over the the life of this blog I've focused on Leadership and Reputation in the context organizational performance. The United States political body is just another larger organization - one it the midst of troubled performance.
If you've read any of my most recent post - I'm for Barack Obama - notwithstanding that
confession, I'm an American and a student of organizational behavior and the ethical issues that cause tensions within an organization.
We've all heard the capitalism operates on foundational notions - freedom of choice - pricing mechanics related to that choice and lastly and most importantly trust in the system of punishments and rewards issued. This same trust is what holds us together as a people and world.
One of the major outcomes of the attacks of 9/11 is the clear contest between forces that believe that the world civilization so based on trust can endure the counter views of the terrorist. The question for me is to what degree do our USA national reputation and organizing principles engender trust and freedom.
In the most recent debate in Mississippi between Senators Obama and McCain reputation was the abiding issue. Other commentators may go on about who knew more about the height of Koreans or had the most passport stamps or even which order of engagement a meeting with this or that foreign government leader should be engage - not me. Barack (Lets reason together) is clearly for recapturing our lost status and McCain wants to extend the tough guy image of the Bush doctrine (Fear US - USA reserves the right to attack first).
The Tough Guy image fails primarily because we can't and haven't pulled it off - especially given the performance of GWB. This is where the internal organization of body politic holds sway. This was most evident in the vote on the bailout bill. This is where the two principles the out nations organizing principles have come apart.
For those that have chosen freedom - they are prepared to let the risk of wide spread economic pain and agony take whatever course - as the representative from Michigan said - If the question is between Bread and Freedom - he chooses Freedom. This statement reminds me of the Hobbsian world view - a war of all against all.
What are the conditions under which men tend to lose the quest for trust - fear! It is obvious under certain circumstances - individual identity, experiences of revenge and jealously - inspire fear and imminent danger. The loss of nerve may be sheer automatic reaction of the nervous system (this may be why so many want Obama to show emotions as an expression of kinship to their own weakness). Men and woman both may lose their nerve sometimes whey they are forced to make sudden and crucial decisions involving their destiny and the destiny of others. This is especially understood - but not excused - in those of my generation and older, both from a black and white perspective. For blacks its owed to us based on time in the country - as if a quota could make such a tactic make sense or even worse is he black enough to get back what racism over these many years has taken from us. On the other end are whites that figure that any black person smart enough to become President must be smart enough to take back from them all the advantages that they have accumulated.
Neither view is based on either his performance as a candidate nor his life experience to this point. What should be seen is Barack natural caution and temperament. If anything, he is rational to a fault. What should be a question for him is under what conditions would he loose his temper? One of the features of trust is understanding what's out of bounds?
As we move further into the election and more of the US electorate ponders who to vote - the issue of which candidate has both the inclination and capacity to build the bounds of trust between first within the nation and then to express and invite the world to partake in that trust is the candidate that will enhance our reputation. I am convinced that candidate is on the whole is Barack Obama.
If we should choose John McCain this would mean that we are continuing down the path of fear - furthering the decay of trust built up over and in spite of our historic failures. Showing that fear is stronger than the ideals of our higher selves which gave birth to our nation and for whose high fulfillment we have in the past marshaled the resources of our common life.
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