Eliot Spitzer: feet of clay

 I glanced up briefly from the madness of my workload recently to discover that the mighty had fallen.  Eliot Spitzer, once the Poster Boy of “Gotcha”, had been got.  It’s hard to describe how it made me feel.

As NY Attorney General, and in previous roles, he had done massive amounts of good, including helping to bring down the Gambino family in New York.  Suddenly regulators everywhere were Eliot Spitzer wannabes and the financial services industry scrambled to shore up their practices so they lived up to a new model of more transparency.  Corrupt corporates knew the heightened fear of someone as`smart and powerful as Spitzer discovering they were up to no good.  White collar criminals shuddered.  His focus was relentless, and one after the other, he ripped open institutions of unfairness and corruption.

This month, though, it’s like all of it was left behind.  Ohhhh- that photo of his wife – standing there, looking desperately alone, inexplicably trying to help him to salvage something of his world before it all, finally, collapsed.  To me, all of this says a lot about leadership.  Here’s my attempt to articulate what all this made me feel.

1. The most self-righteous among us are probably hiding the biggest secrets

Now, I’m not saying Spitzer was self-righteous.  But there sure was alot of schadenfreude washing around when his reputation hit the skids.  The situation reminded me of 1984, when I was 16.  Back then, I attended a Pentecostal church.  This was pretty controversial at the time, and many of my school friends attended the local Anglican church.  The Anglican Minister was a grey-haired man, who preached of fire and brimstone, and used the pulpit to condemn the Pentecostal church and its practitioners.  Those of us who attended were regarded as wayward children, to be brought back onto the path.  His self-righteousness knew no bounds.  Even his daughter, Pam, who I went to school with, was a caricature of “goodness”.  My overwhelming memory was that he was more than a little terrifying.

Years later, a girl I knew from those times came forward.  When she was 16, the Minister had taken advantage of her; she’d been damaged ever since.  He was removed from Ministry and brought shame to his family, and his church.  I wondered how Pam was taking it: the girl had been one of her closest friends.

When I found out, it was like it all suddenly made sense: those who criticise the most often have the most to hide.  He preached damnation on others and, while everyone else was having tea cake, he was ruining young girls for his own purposes.

I’ve seen this again and again: the biggest protestors are often the ones with the most to hide.  I try my hardest to avoid being self-righteous.  I’m not perfect, and I don’t feel like hearing “I told you so” from anyone.

2. Being ethical isn’t a part-time job

If you are 99.9% ethical, are you still an “ethical” person?  That’s like being only half pregnant.  You either are or you aren’t.  If you want to be an ethical leader, stop stealing the pens.

Apart from the damage to his family, I am saddest about Spitzer’s legacy being lost in some hotel room somewhere.  How such bad judgement can ruin a lifetime of service.  Sure, I know the guy had ambition, and was probably motivated by realising it, but let’s not throw the baby out with the bathwater here.

Nonetheless, you are only as good as today’s reputation.

3.  None of this should stop you standing up for what’s right

What I’m saying isn’t about not standing up, speaking up when you need to.  If only someone had said something in 1984, that poor girl might not have been abused by the Minister.  Be brave, but be compassionate.

4. Be understanding and generous-spirited

Particularly about the shortcomings of others.  Especially if you want room one day to recover from mistakes yourself.  See the circumstances from all sides: your first take on a situation is wrong often enough to mean you should stop and think, and ask questions, before passing judgement…come to think of it, don’t pass judgement.  Just give understanding.  Make the tough calls when you need to, but avoid being the One Who Thinks They Are 100% Right.

So…

I suppose that, when all is said and done, I just feel sorry about the whole Spitzer mess.  I want leaders I can follow, and admire.  I don’t want them to have feet of clay; I want to learn from them, be inspired, and have enough of them live up to the dream to make my belief in the human spirit worth defending.

I WANT Spitzer to make a comeback.  He’s taken his medicine; his life as he knows it is gone.  I WANT us all to give him the space to pick himself up and dust himself off.  Please let the press give him the space and respect so he can try and save his marriage, so he can teach his and all our daughters that women are valued and he knows he totally messed up.  He isn’t over: God, I hope what he does next will blow us all away.

Good luck, Eliot.

(Photo credit: Mary Altaffer, The Associated Press)