Strategy Session

A leader does something that he knows is wrong, but he does it anyway and maybe more than once. Then he gets caught.

Last night I learned about the punishment that the NFL commissioner imposed on Coach Bill Belichick and the New England Patriots for using videotape to try to steal the New York Jets’ signals during last Sunday’s game. The storied franchise’s reputation is now tarnished (new label: “cheaters”), and this is probably just the beginning of the story.

I thought of the similarities between Belichick’s behavior and the behavior of several executives that has come to light in the past year. For some reason some CEOs also think it’s okay to cheat and lie and break the rules (read: backdating stock options). In many cases what ends up happening, in my opinion, is their arrogance just catches up with them, and they get caught. And then some decide to deny and backpedal.

The poster boy (right now, at least) for refusing to admit any wrongdoing in our industry is Gregory L. Reyes, the former CEO of San Jose-based network storage solutions provider Brocade Communications Systems. Reyes was convicted in August of one count of conspiracy, four counts of securities fraud, four counts of lying to accountants and one count of false books and records relating to his alleged scheme to backdate options grants to Brocade employees. Reyes’ major downfall? He persistently refused to admit he participated in or had any knowledge of the backdating, despite mounting evidence turned up by internal probes of the company. (His sentencing is scheduled for November 21.)

Of course there are plenty of executives who don’t lie or cheat. And I appreciate the fact that corporate leaders today are under tremendous pressures to meet their earnings expectations and stay ahead of the competition. In today’s increasingly global market it’s a challenge for some companies to track all their competitors since new ones can appear out of nowhere (Apple in the phone business?). Having strong leadership skills and improving on them is a work in progress, as executive coach, Susan Meyers, has written in her article, "How engineers, executives can improve their leadership muscle."

I think many of us hold our executives in high regard—they got where they are for good reason. And their achievements are celebrated, and I think they should be. I want to hear more of the great things they do in the months to come, and look forward to writing about them here.

As for Belichick and the Patriots, they now have to live with the consequences of cheating and getting caught.