Poor Judgement

http://blogs.wsj.com/dailyfix/2011/03/09/two-games-too-few-for-tressel/?KEYWORDS=unethical

I thought this article was relevant to our blog because even though it was not an unethical behavior from a CEO, it was still a behavior of a leader.  In this case, the team is the organization that Jim Tressel is in charge of and the teammates would resemble employees.  There are many cases of unethical behaviors in sports and they often times get blown over.  In this case the coach, Jim Tressel, found out that some of his players were selling off some of their school memorabilia, which is strictly prohibited in the NCAA and did nothing to address the issue or confront it.

According to ethical egotism from Northouse, “a person should act so as to create the greatest good for herself or himself”.  In this case of Jim Tressel, he should have protected himself and brought the players misconduct to the attention of the NCAA.  This would have made him still look like a powerful leader and also would have shown that he does not tolerate any misconduct or unethical behavior.  After being a successful coach for over twenty five years, it was a poor choice to choose to protect his teammates who should not have been selling memorabilia.  By trying to hide what the players were doing, not only did he put himself at risk but he also tarnished the Ohio State name.  Since he tried to cover up the issue, he also portrays that he will put himself at risk to cover up the team member’s mistakes instead of dealing with them in the proper fashion. 

Jim Tressel should use Heifetz’s perspective on leadership.   This perspective states that, “leaders must use authority to mobilize people to face touch issues” and goes on to say “the leader provides a “holding environment” in which there is trust, nurturance and empathy.”  I feel that his is the best approach for a coach to have because this perspective takes into account the close relationship that he has with the players.  It also suggests that he should have confronted the issue and dealt with it in the proper method.  As a leader of such a successful organization, he should have a trustful, nurturing and empathetic relationship but also maintain his high level of authority.  This unethical conduct was a severe lack of judgment on his part and will always be in the shadows of all of his past and future successes.   

Thanks for looking,

Dan Condon