Leadership, Gamers and Lay-offs

Although this may have been more timely a couple of years ago, we are still feeling the aftershocks of the  earthquake caused by the amassed organizational karma from the 20^th century.

When will we learn that...

“Nothing is free?”

and...

Every gain has a price…

and...

Every misdeed is ultimately recognized and punished…

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Being an effective 21^st Century Leader requires a deep understanding of this concept and accepting…(actually demanding) full responsibility for every organizational outcome (something that I see very few leaders willing to do today).

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Let’s shift gears for a moment and contemplate a huge injustice that we unwittingly bestowed upon our children…

VIDEO GAMES…

Video Game development has become a HUGE industry.

It has become so popular that a social segment called "Gamers" has arisen...

In short, video games are a social phenomenon!

There is an interesting parallel between video games and reality that is important enough to note…

But before we go there…let’s go back about a quarter century to the infancy of gaming!

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The game that started it all...

Pong…

The simple video ping-pong game…

Pong and those games that followed, missed and important element…

RECOURSE…

HUH?

Video games became the venue in which crazy things could be tried without any threats or punishments for failure...

In a macabre way...

The game stick (commonly called a joy stick) or controller should have had electrodes embedded in them that gave the “loser” a huge and “potentially fatal” shock.

Why would I suggest such a drastic measure?

Let's look at what has happened with video games...

Over time...video games have gotten more and more real!

A gamer can steal cars...kill people...conquer countries...and more!

Over the course of a quarter century and these cool games...

We have subtly taught our future leaders (gamers) that there is no loss related to wrong decisions…

In fact, there is a spin-off industry nearly as big as the gaming industry…

It is the industry that identifies and sells “cheat-codes!”

We unwittingly allow our children to buy victory and send a message that it is OK to cheat to win!

In the "gamer" world...breaking the rules is OK!

Gamers are lauded if they know some obscure trick that lets them win!  and…

I am afraid that they have transferred (through our apathy) that same attitude to their real lives!

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Think of how different it would be that if a gamer lost a game of “pong” and it cost them $250,000?

Or…they lost their girlfriend or boyfriend…

Or their best friends immediately died?

Or…they had to declare bankruptcy…or lost their car or their home?

Or they lost their video game system...

couldn't eat...

got sick...and couldn't afford a doctor

or worse...they died?

Extreme?

…YES!

Why would I take such a position?

Because "Leadership" is not a game…

Yet many leaders act as if it is!

They feel sheltered from recourse…that ANY mistake simply means a “system reset” or a start-over!

Other leaders act as if they live in the world of “cheat-codes”

Behaving as if it is OK to bend the rules to win the game…

And we support by lauding their prowess!

Just like the gamers bow to the cheats in their society!

Many leaders act as if they have no stake in the business game!

They are shielded by attornies and plausible deniability!

Could it be that they equate reality with gaming?

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21^st century leaders and those who aspire to real leadership success have to separate fiction from reality!

That separation is found in their taking responsibility and accepting the recourse for their actions and decisions…

Leaders who build an organization…add hundreds of people and then have to lay them off for any reason other than “an act of God” should reap the same recourse as those people who trusted them enough to take the job and the his or her empty promises!

21^st century leaders have to recognize that there is no success when “cheat codes” are used.

Or when they push the legal limits...

Or take advantage of legal loop-holes...

That kind of stuff is a 19^th and perhaps 20^th behavior, but not that of today!

If one aspires to be a 21^st century leader, they should step forward and take the consequences for every decision…not hide behind the statement “I am not going to be thrown under this bus!”

If jail is a component of the risk related to the reward…then take it…just like you took the money!

Business is not a game!

“No replays”

“No resets”

“No cheat codes”

Big Rewards has BIG RISK...the shock and awe that comes with the "jolt" of reality!

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All Leaders play with the lives of hundreds of people at stake.

They want to reap rewards and have no responsibility for loss!

If you are one that disagree with this…then it is time to assess your position as a leader…

Step up to the challenge or step down!

If you are a stockholder or an expendable worker...demand that your leadership steps up!

Our world will be better if we demand that from them! 

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“Employment at will” is a two way street…if you are a leader and promised employment…then provide it!

A lay-off is a leadership failure...the leader should be the first to go...

That termination will have the biggest bang for the buck...

Leaders are a "dime a dozen"...they can be replaced!  Just like everyone else that does get laid-off!

Let me qualify that previous thought...employment is not a lifetime guarantee!

A worker should be terminated if they broke some ethical or moral rule…

Hmmmmm…isn’t lying unethical?

Like lying to the Board of Directors...or one's employees?

Leaders who build huge corporations and then dissolve it…have lied to "the Board" and their people!

Their poor judgment and short-sightedness or self-centeredness not to mention their incompetency is grounds for termination…yet…it is the leaders who remain and the innocent who are asked to leave at a moment’s notice!

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How do we put the icing on this cake?

There is nothing sweet about what we have become!

I have a tendency to believe that we are not products of our video games…but that our video games are products of our basic social values and belief system…

Game have their place…but they are not real!

I would love nothing more than to attach a stun gun to the "joy stick"…and turn it into a "reality stick!"

It makes a Wii into a WHOA! 

We need to realize that there is no “joy” without the risk of “pain!”

Step up and be a 21st century leader!

Pura Vida