It is indeed heart-breaking to witness the horror stories that broke out in Kabul soon after the Taliban entered into the capital city of Afghanistan. We fervently pray for the safety and well being of the citizens of Afghanistan and hope a viable solution to restore normalcy is found soon enough. However, while listening to Joe Biden’s address on 16th night, without any prejudice or disrespect to POTUS,I cannot but have a sense of déjà vu.His response when faced with the wrath of people seemed to be so familiar. It has often been witnessed leaders in different walks of life, when faced with criticism and wrath for failure or crisis, which perhaps is of their own making desperately look for escape routes to cover up the mess they find themselves in.What are the ingredients of such a response?
1.Find a convenient escape route and highlight the the fault lines in the genesis of the problem (which are known to all)to cover up the cracks in the execution strategy.
2.Justify the action (which again is acceptable)rather than accept responsibility for the shoddy and botched-up implementation.
3.Pass the buck and indulge in blame game and point out the past, present and future errors of omission and commission rather than analyse to address immediate reasons for failure.
4.Be fatalistic and accept it as a fait accompli in hindsight rather than having foresight to proactively working on a contingency plan for the eventuality.
5.Divert criticism by invoking emotion and touching raw chords which have universal appeal of humanity and patriotism.
6.Display false bravado, muscle power and word play with conviction and courage to prove the right of action.
7.Build an impervious wall of denial that does not accept any wrong and walk out outrageously rather than apologise for the wrong.
8.Double speak of humanity and leave it to others to pick up the broken pieces.
9.Kill the conscience and say I am ok and I know I am right and let the other side redress.
10.When there is success be the hero, but when there is failure, turn off the limelight to find the villains in the story.
- To err is human,but be humane and humble when you do.
- Remember the buck stops at those who are the helm of affairs here and now.
- If you own the decision for you action accept the responsibility for its consequences whatever it be.