On November 9th, Christopher Kubasik was asked to
resign by the CEO and board of directors. Before that, he was the president and
COO of Lockheed Martin and soon to be CEO. However, he was investigated for an
alleged affair with a subordinate. When the accusation was proven to be true,
his hopes of becoming CEO in January 2013 disappeared.
Kubasik joins a list of top executives from Fortune 500
corporations who have lost their jobs because of inappropriate relationships
with subordinates or vendors. On one hand, this debacle seems to be a growing
trend. At the same time, if you dig deeper, you may find that this behavior
has
always existed in business. Except, post Enron and Worldcom the rules of
Sarbanes Oxley provide little sympathy for those who violate company policies.
If intimate relationships have always existed in the
workplace and it still occurs in the face of stricter policies, how do we stop
it? Is it wise to try to stop it?
From one perspective, it may be unrealistic to ask people to
not develop feelings for one another when they spend more time together at work
than they do at home. In fact, a written policy that prohibits fraternizing
with colleagues can create an unintended consequence. It creates an unspoken policy
of deceit. Once people develop feelings for one another and act on them, they
have to hide the relationship. Once people start to hide one behavior, it is
possible that they will hide others. The unspoken policy is you can do what you
want as long as you do not get caught.
As people work longer hours, they have less time for a
social life. Furthermore, the more time they spend together the closer they
become. They accomplish projects together, empower one another and build trust
between them as they become more dependent on their individual contributions.
In the normal course of events, it is reasonable to see how this trust and team
partnership can develop mutual romantic feelings between colleagues and
subordinates.
While the idea of a superior showing favoritism towards a
subordinate is possible, there can be checks and balances in place to avoid
abuses. Aside from that, there are many instances where couples work well
together. For example, there are husband and wife teams who start successful businesses
together. Couples who work together can be effective because of the level of
trust that exists between them. That trust can benefit other team members or
the entire organization.
On the other hand, it is possible that professionalism can
be lost because of the intimate relationship. This can erode culture.
At the same time, if people naturally gain affinity for one
another because they work closely, it may be time to examine the policies of
corporations. Perhaps it is time to accept the fact that people can sometimes
develop romantic feelings for one another. Keeping those kinds of relationships
in the open makes it easier to correct inappropriate behavior. Hiding will only
force people into a lifestyle of lies and deceit. It’s time to go after the
policies not the people who make the enterprise work.
What do you think? I’m open to ideas. Or if you want to
write me about a specific topic, let me know what it is.
I think this was well stated. There is a book called "Sex at Dawn" By Cacida Jetha and Christopher Ryan that addresses the different predicaments we as humans get ourselves into or out of. Very interesting book. We all have choice but on the other hand our lives are not run by pure intellect, we are more complicated. As for setting rules of non fraternizing makes the possibility of some form of a relationship more intense. Now it is the " Forbidden Fruit" My thoughts are this is something that will not change no matter the consequences. That has been proven through out the history of mankind. Maybe more thought should be given to setting boundaries than rules, and then a serious of actions that are required if a relationship occurs. Such as expected behavior in the office.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Marilyn. I agree that people sometimes pursue that which is forbidden. However, a relationship built on the idea of forbidden fruit generally has no substance and could eventually create problems in the workplace. There are people who build great relationships that turn into marriage. Bill Gates is an example of that. He married is executive assistant. And you are correct. If a relationship does develop, there needs to be guidelines for expected behavior.
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