Rishabh, a financial services institution’s CEO, entered his executive team meeting and announced, “Does anyone else want to punch me? It appears that I’m the punching bag this week.” The preceding week, an employee in a lower position was dismissed from Rishabh’s company for violating ethical principles, causing a stain on the company’s otherwise respectable reputation. In response to the situation, employees expressed their indignation through email, social media and internal platforms, blaming Rishabh for “allowing it to happen” or “ignoring the problem” in a sudden onslaught of criticism. However, neither of these accusations were correct.
One of the inevitable aspects of leadership is criticism. Being leader is not about just gaining popularity but also being questioned for the actions. You are not leading properly if no one is questioning your leadership. Even when a leader acts consistently in organisation’s best interests, he may be criticized. One reason for this is that leaders often have to make...
