Leaders who jump ship during crisis have no place in corner office

I will give you the option of choosing to work in either of these places.

First, the Italian cruise ship, Costa Concordia. It partially sank on January 13 after hitting a reef off the Italian coast and running aground at Tuscany, requiring the evacuation of the people on board.

At least 17 people died, including 15 passengers and two crewmen; 64 others were injured and 16 are missing. Two passengers and a crew member trapped below deck were rescued.

The Captain Francesco Schettino had deviated from the ship’s computer-programmed route to treat people on Giglio Island to the spectacle of a close sail-past.

He was later arrested on preliminary charges of multiple manslaughter, failure to assist passengers in need and abandonment of ship. The captain actually abandoned his ship.

The second option is the Google’s country office in Kenya.

The country manager left her post in the wake of a data poaching scandal involving the country’s largest business directory, Mocality.

Two weeks ago Mocality accused Google of fraudulently using its data to sell competing products to clients. Google initiated an investigation and apologised to Mocality.

“I confirm I have left Google Kenya. As the leader of the Kenyan office, I felt that the buck stopped with me and I decided to leave,” she told the Daily Nation on Monday.

I would be pleasantly surprised if you chose to work in the cruise ship.

Culture is articulated and maintained by the leaders of an organisation; morale is an indicator of the health and condition of the culture at any given time. 

On both counts, the military pays a lot of attention to how well its leaders embody the culture and maintain high morale through example. 

The military does an excellent job of training and reinforcing leadership in its officers.  This is done through reinforcing discipline and through reinforcing a culture of honour, sacrifice and service.  

In my interaction with soldiers who served in the Kenya Defence Forces and who later transitioned into civilian leadership roles in business, I noticed some common themes that went far beyond admirable traits or desirable leadership characteristics.

Good businesses that are run in a disciplined way do the same.