Those Who Sacrifice Liberty For Security Deserve Neither.
- Benjamin Franklin
Sloan Innovation Period (SIP) gives MBA students an intense week of study set apart from the rest of the 13-week semester. Classes offer experiential lessons in leadership and expose students to groundbreaking faculty research. I took a number of great SIP courses last week but one stood out in particular. During "Front-Line Leadership", ex-chief executive officer of Southwest Airlines, James Parker talked about "distributed leadership," the importance of having front-line leaders up and down the organizational chain. As the CEO of Southwest Airlines during the tragic incident of September 11, 2001, Mr Parker mentioned how Southwest kept all its employees on its payroll, and even went ahead with a $179.8 million profit-sharing payment to employees, while other airlines announced they were cutting their workforces at least 20 percent.
In his recent book, Right Thing: How Dedicated Employees Create Loyal Customers and Large Profits (Wharton School Publishing, 2007), Mr Parker talked about the need for ethical leadership and the importance of great customer service. Listening to his observations on business leadership, my mind turned to another issue. In December 2001, the federal government created a no-fly list, a secret list of people who are not permitted to board a commercial aircraft for travel in the United States. By April 2007, the list contained 700,000 records. In addition to violating the First and Fourth Amendments and the Privacy Act of 1974, the list raised civil liberties and due process concerns, due in part to the potential for ethnic, religious, economic, political, or racial profiling and discrimination.
During the Q&A session, I asked Mr Parker about why we hadn't seen the much-needed ethical leadership from the airlines industry, particularly in its refusal to challenge the government's unconstitutional over-reaches in maintaining the no-fly list. This is in sharp contrast to the telecommunications industry (where I had worked before coming to MIT Sloan), which was also ordered by the government to cooperate in a warrantless wiretapping program of US citizens. At least one large telecommunications company raised considerable objection: Qwest rejected the federal government's wiretapping requests on the grounds that it wasn't clearly legal.
In fact, business in America has always been quick to act when government was slow or ineffective. Consider the issue of companies offering equal benefits to the same-sex partners of their employees at a time when the federal Defense of Marriage Act prohibits the U.S. government from recognizing same-sex couples. Some say that the corporations are responding to basic pocketbook needs and real marketplace challenges, such as competition and the need to attract and retain top workers. Regardless, creating welcoming and inclusive work environments, where gay couples are treated exactly like married heterosexual couples, makes good business sense, as does caring for customers who are being unfairly treated by the government.
Coming back to my question, Mr Parker apologized for the lack of action by the airlines industry and mentioned that they had to follow FAA and TSA orders. When I mentioned the possibility of "frequent-flyers", most of who are loyal customers, bypassing the no-fly list as a way to maintain superior customer service, he said it was a great idea, and agreed that the government actions were clearly unnecessary. The absurdity becomes even more obvious when one realizes that prominent senators and congressmen, in addition to five-year olds have been flagged by the no-fly list as a security concern. Given that Mr Parker is a lawyer by training (JD from University of Texas as well as former assistant attorney general of Texas), I am glad that I was able to get his opinion on this important matter.
On another topic, Spring Break was a great time to relax after the midterm exams and get ready for the second half of the semester. I also used the time to give some final-round interviews and I am happy to mention that I have received two great offers, especially considering the state of the economy and the financial sector. I am waiting for two more offers to come in before I make my decision. One thing is for sure: I would rather be in school right now than be part of the workforce...
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