The Responsibility Leaders Avoid

In any job or position there are duties that are challenging and difficult. The temptation to set these tasks aside or to only partially complete them is difficult to resist. It is difficult, but for those in leadership it is important. 

One of the most challenging responsibilities of a leader is the need to discipline or rebuke a member of the leadership team who is failing. Whether the failure be work related or a matter of morality, leadership failures can do great harm to an organization. Allowing such failures to continue is inexcusable. It is inexcusable but it is unfortunately common.

This failure to address sin in leadership is not a recent phenomenon. There are stories of leadership failures dating back hundreds of years. A particularly sad tale of such failure can be found in the Biblical book of 1 Samuel. There we read of a man named Eli who was the chief priest for the nation of Israel. His two sons were serving as priests under him. His sons were immoral men who stole from the offerings brought by the people and who had multiple affairs with the women who served in the tent of meeting.

Multiple reports came to Eli telling him of his son’s terrible deeds. Eli spoke to his sons about their behavior. He told them that he had heard of their sin and how news of it was spreading among the people. He warned them that God would judge them for their actions. Unfortunately, Eli did nothing but talk. He did not remove his sons from their positions of authority or punish them for their deeds. Ultimately Eli and his sons paid for their sins with their lives and the nation suffered tragic defeat at the hands of its enemies. Thousands died.

I have seen similar failures in multiple settings in medical organizations and in churches. I served for a year in a leadership position for a large hospital in Orange County. I watched first hand as the CEO intentionally misled and manipulated others. I soon learned that the instances I had seen were not isolated. Medical staffs leaders and hospital employees related similar tales of promises broken and respect lost. In conversation after conversation people expressed the same question, "How could the Board of Directors not see what was happening?" The greater fear was that the Board did see but was refusing to act. The CEO moved on (he was actually promoted!) to another position but it will take years to rebuild the trust and confidence that was lost. It has been over three years since I dealt with the man and I still do not fully trust the leadership of the hospital and am extremely cautious in all of my dealings with them.

Such failures of leadership are sad in business but they are tragic in churches. Over the years I have seen church elders follow in the steps of Eli on many occasions. I have watched as elders acted as if the fact that an in issue had been discussed meant that it had been addressed. I saw this again recently in the way leaders of a particular church dealt with a pastor who frequently used foul language and was overbearing in his dealings with staff members. The elders knew of the behavior and “addressed it” but continued.

The pastor ultimately resigned for other reasons. As he left failings were hidden further when the elders publicly praised him as a great man on his final Sunday at the church.

As is always the case, the secret of his poor character did not stay secret long. His poor judgment and lack of repentance became evident in his podcasts and Facebook posts. Freed from the constraints of his church position he shared his salty language and questionable theology with the world. He has left his church but the damage his sin caused continues to this day as left behind a divided congregation.

The stories of the CEO, the pastor and Eli the priest are powerful reminders of the tremendous responsibility borne by all leaders. It is up to leaders in business to step up and address failures of leaders and it is up to church elders to shepherd and protect the church, to stand against those whose acitions can cause harm. There are few duties more important than holding other leaders accountable for their words and deeds. When dealing with leaders who are failing mere words are seldom enough. Action is required.

It is difficult and uncomfortable to take such action but true leaders rise to the occasion. 

-Bart

Things that Make You Go '"ARRRRRRRRRRGH"

I struggle with stupidity. When confronted with asinine policies, procedures or responses grace goes out the window and I become an impatient, short-tempered jerk. I tell myself that I will do better the next time, but each time the next time comes I find myself struggling all over again.

One of my greatest frustrations is the number of useless forms that have become a part of my life. I somehow missed the memo, but last week must have been National Stupid Form Week.

CVS Pharmacy interrupted my day demanding to know the diagnosis for a patient being prescribed narcotics. While they say they are trying to stop fraudulent prescriptions, my prescriptions are sent through a secure electronic system that is double password protected. One of the passwords changes every 30 seconds, so fraud is impossible. This did not matter to the pharmacist, who had a form to complete.

A perfectly healthy patient came in with Federal Family Medical Leave Act forms from her employer. These forms are to be completed when patients have a serious illness that requires an extended absence from work. She had missed three days with a stomach flu so the forms did not apply. This did not matter to the Human Resources person who apparently could not take any action or make any decision unless there were forms attached.

A Plastic Surgeon’s office sent over forms for “pre-operative clearance” on a perfectly healthy 40 year old man who was getting his nose fixed. The medical literature is replete with studies and guidelines stating that such clearances are worthless and should not be performed. This does not matter to surgical schedulers. They need a form.

A medical supply company sent over forms for new CPAP supplies for a patient with sleep apnea. They needed me to write out an order for new supplies (they are replaced annually) and to submit an authorization to the insurance stating that they were needed. For the insurance I need to include the diagnosis and supporting documentation. Sleep apnea is a chronic disease that never goes away, the diagnosis never changes. The patient has had the disease for years and all of the documentation has been previously sent. This does not matter, as to dispense the supplies someone needs to complete a form.

My problem is that I resist. I try to point out to the person requesting the information that the form is useless and unnecessary. This does not compute. Their request is not a result of reason or necessity. It is a matter of policy. Trying to change a policy is futile. I would have more luck arguing with my dog about eating food dropped on the floor.

I have realized that if I try to change these policies, as foolish as they are, I will end up frustrated, angry and responding in a very non-Christian fashion. Since arguing is pointless and wastes so much of my time I have decided I have only one option left.

I have my nurse do it.

- Bart

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A Dad and His Son on His Birthday

My son is celebrating his 26th birthday. I did some research, and this means that I am really, really old. He is fast approaching the age Lisa and I were on the day he was born. I want to think that I am still young but there comes a time when denial must give way to reality. I can look in the mirror and be blind to the massive bald spot on the back of my head, I can overlook the wrinkles and pretend the gray hairs don’t massively outnumber the blond ones but I can’t ignore the fact that my son is a full grown man working a full grown man job.

He is married, educated and professional in demeanor and appearance.  Those with whom he interacts on a daily basis view him as a handsome young man with a quick wit and a bright smile. I see that too, but I also see things they do not.

I see the little boy who created binge watching 25 years ago, the 1 year old in a onesie sitting in the middle of the couch watching every single Disney Sing-Along-Songs video, over and over and over. I see the two year old running through the house pushing his plastic lawn mower in front of him or climbing all the way into the cabinet under the kitchen sink so he could “fix” the pipes.

I see the 3 year old boy who wore a Dalmatian costume for weeks, barking instead of talking and the 5 year old T-ball player who had a knack for hitting kids in the side of the head with his throws. I see the 10 year old who loved Star Wars (this hasn’t changed, at all).

I see my son, all of him. All 26 years of him. I see the baby, the infant, the toddler, the adolescent and the man, all in one glance. I see not just who he has become, but who he is and how he came to be. When I see all of this I feel very proud. I also feel very, very old.

-          Bart

The Day I Stepped on a Joint

It was the last day of my junior year in high school. There was no classwork that day. Students spent most of their days signing yearbooks and saying goodbye for the summer. Girls would hug one another, often tearfully, and guys would mostly grunt.

A rite of passage that day was juniors taking over the “Senior Quad” which, although not quadrangular, was the place on campus where only seniors were allowed to sit. It was a pretty big deal, and people whooped and celebrated the ascendancy. They then sat down to sign yearbooks and say goodbye.

I was sitting on the grass with my back against a low wall signing a friend’s yearbook when something dropped on the ground next to me.  I turned and saw a still burning joint. About half of the cigarette remained. Without thinking, I stuck out my foot and crushed the cigarette into the ground, extinguishing the joint and with it any hope of it returning to its intended use. The joint’s owner looked at me in disgust and said, “Barrett!” in a mournfully angry tone and walked away.

I later wondered how it was that I had gotten away with my act. Robert, owner of the joint, was known to be hot-tempered (He had once punched me in the face once over some comment I had made in a class). I realized over time that he did not get angry because I had done exactly what was expected of me. I was known to be a devout Christian, someone opposed to drugs. Stepping on the burning joint was perfectly in line with my character. It was as if he blamed himself for being foolish enough to drop his joint next to a known joint killer.

I think of that story often, as it represents an aspect of the Christian faith that many forget. Those who truly embrace the faith should be somewhat predictable in their behavior. In the positive sense, we should be predictably kind, gracious, and faithful and we should live out the tenets of our faith. Our speech should be appropriate and people should expect to hear us talk about what we believe as an explanation for our lives.

In a negative sense, we should be expected to speak out against wrongdoing, and to avoid immorality. There are parties we will not go to, movies we will not watch and celebrations we will not join. Our commitment to our faith and to biblical principles should make us at times boringly predictable.

While some may be offended, that should not be a concern. Like Robert the joint owner, they should know what to expect.

-          Bart

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My Patient the Polygamist

She was a polygamist but she didn’t know it. When she arrived at the office she was asked to confirm her demographic information. Under the section for marital status the box for "polygamist" was clearly checked. The patient, who is in a same sex relationship, laughed loudly, “I couldn’t get married at all until two years ago, now I’m married to more than one person!”

We continued to laugh about it when I came into the exam room. I said, only half-jokingly, “That may be legal before too long!” She got a slightly puzzled look on her face and said, “You think so?”

The conversation that followed surprised me. I was fearful that a discussion between a Christian doctor and a lesbian patient on the nature of marriage might not end well. We live in a world where people on opposite sides of the issue have used terms such as “hateful” and “immoral” to describe those with opposing viewpoints. I chose my words carefully, and proceeded with caution.

I shared with her that the definition of marriage in our society was evolving, and since it was evolving there was no way of knowing for certain what the endpoint would be. I added that the reasoning used by the Supreme Court in its decision affirming same sex marriage could potentially be applied in a way that supported polygamy as well. I said this in a matter of fact way, avoiding any tone that might imply anger, fear or emotion. She agreed with my thoughts, that things had changed and the endpoint was unknown.

I went on to add that it was the evolving nature of things that was the actual source of the debate. Rather than the debate being specifically about marriage, I expressed my thought that there are two viewpoints involved. One part of society believes that values come from outside of society and should endure and not change over time. Another group believes that values should evolve along with society.

Those who believe that values should endure are naturally concerned with the changes that have happened in our country and wonder where we are going. They are naturally opposed to changes in the value system. Her response was perfect in its understanding, “Of course they are!”

I went on to say that those who believe that values evolve over time would naturally tell others, “Who are you to tell me that I cannot live my life the way that I choose? Why should you be able to impose your values on me?” We both agreed on this statement as well.

And that was the end of it, the best possible outcome. Two people with different perspectives and values, two people who did not even agree on the correct way to define values, agreed with one another that reasonable, thoughtful people could reach different conclusions without calling one another names or thinking ill of one another.

How about that?

-          Bar

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