The end for the Trump Presidency was the “American Carnage”
that the Trump had talked about in his inauguration speech some four years ago.
The time in between the election in November 2020 and the swearing in of Joe Biden
as President, we had countless lawsuits (all of which were thrown out for lack
of evidence) for electoral fraud and then there was the infamous storming of
the Capitol Building on 6 January 2021, the day that Congress was to certify
the electoral college vote.
One of the most prominent features of this period was the
resignation of several very loyal cabinet members, in particular the resignation
of Mr. Bill Barr, the Attorney-General. Mr. Barr had proved to be so loyal to
Mr. Trump that many of Mr. Trump’s critics accused him of colluding and giving
him legal cover. The most noticeable moment came during the reveal of the
Muller Report. However, the accusations of electoral fraud were a step too far
for Mr. Barr, who declared that there was no such fraud despite the President’s
best efforts to say so.
Then there was Mike Pence, the Vice-President, who had until
he became the subject of the January 6, 2021 crowd’s ire, been exceedingly
loyal to Mr. Trump. So much so that most people barely thought of him as a
shadow.
The last minute turning of Mr. Pence and Mr. Barr opened
them up to accusations by Mr. Trump’s critics of only acting to save their necks.
However, in fairness to both men, one has to say that they are not the first
people to have stuck by their boss, even when the boss was showing himself to
be a difficult one.
Let’s put it this way, many of us have been put into situations
where we’ve been unhappy with our bosses at the workplace. Yet, despite our
unhappiness with the job or the boss, we’ve soldiered on. The simple reason is
this – in communities where men have it drilled into them that they a “sacred
duty” to provide for the family, they are, more often than not, going to do
what it takes to stay on the right side of the person controlling their livelihood.
In the current economic downturn, those with jobs are going to stick even more
closely with their bosses as it’s a case of “rough job being better than no job
at all.”
While I don’t have statistical evidence, people with “high
post” and are not in need of money are less likely to rock the boat than their
counterparts lower down the food chain. Cabinet Ministers, as a rule of thumb
rarely resign or get fired (the one of the reasons why the Trump Administration
was so newsworthy was because so many Cabinet members often resigned or got
fired).
This dilemma that was faced by the former Vice-President and
Attorney-General, highlights one of the key issues of management that gets
overlooked – namely “upward management.” There have been tomes written about
managing downwards. It seems that everyone knows about managing downwards and
getting the best our of subordinates. I have yet to see anyone try and write a
book about “upward management,” and managing superiors. I remember this when I
was at SISPEC (School of Infantry Specialists – now known as SCS or Specialist Cadets
School). We had a good two months of field training and learning how to lead a
section of men. It was only on graduation day when the SSM (School Sargent Major)
told us that we’d need to learn to be diplomatic when handling superiors (OCs,
CSM, PCs and so on).
Learning how to manage one’s boss and balancing the needs of
loyalty to the boss and to ones personal beliefs is a challenge that many
people fail at and one only learns how to balance and manage bosses through
trial and error and it becomes really tricky when you have one as tricky to
manage as the Trump, who is famously erratic.
Thankfully, there was a member of the Trump Administration
who seemed to know how to tread the fine line between the boss and his beliefs.
That person is the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Mark Milley.
General Milley, is a career solider. Career soldiers are essentially
hardwired to never question their superiors. A soldier’s loyalty is considered
the individual’s greatest asset. As an example, Singapore’s national service
army tells its troops to “Do and Die – Don’t Ask Why,” one can only imagine how
much stronger that ethos is drilled into the heads of professional soldiers in the
American and British Armies.
So, one can only imagine the dilemma that General Milley
faced in June of 2021 when he was seen walking along Lafayette Square for the Trumps
now, infamous Photo Opportunity. The General was criticized for taking part in
the photo op and there were clear political implications for him. Yet, at the
same time, not taking part would have opened him up to criticism of being
disloyal to his big boss. How did General Milley do it?
The answer was a clear and unreserved apology for appearing in
the photo op without any criticism of his boss. He states that he was wrong to
have taken part because it opened him and by extension the entire military to
accusations of partisanship. His apology was personal and it stated very
clearly that his job was to protect the military. Yet, at the same time,
General Milley did not complain or attack the Secretary of Defense or the
President, thus showing that he was loyal to them.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AtXdpbzyGiQ
In his public appearances, the general was always very
careful not to say anything about the political leadership. He never commented
on policies or gave his opinions. Nobody could accuse him of playing politics
or trying to undermine his boss.
However, at the same time, he was clear that was the law and
order general. He was clear about it – the military in the US takes an “Oath to
the Constitution – not to a king or a dictator” He stressed that he and the
military would not follow illegal orders. He set out his terms quite clearly.
General Milley has stated that one needs to have a keen
sense of situational awareness. I believe this is something worth learning from
him. We need to be aware of situations and how to navigate them. Isn’t it time
MBA courses started teaching “Boss Management,” and “Situational Awareness”
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