“When you plunder a countryside, let the spoil be divided amongst your men; when you capture new territory, cut it up into allotments for the benefit of the soldiery.”
“The Art of War”
Sun Tzu
The raise the new sheriff sought for himself has had the media and citizens abuzz. Most discussed are the politics behind the decision. Who is to blame? Why was it done? Has Grady lost his mind?
But more than a political whydunit, Insiders are saying it is, at its heart, the mother of all management blunders.
You’d think he might have gotten a little more out of that Troy University master’s degree. If he had, he would have combined politics and management and stood before the Richmond County Commission and demanded pay raises not for himself, but for his overworked and underpaid staff. He would have demanded it loud, in front of every camera and voice recorder.
Pay raises for the men and women on the street.
Being pragmatic, he would have known it wasn’t going to happen, but that wouldn’t have been the point. In doing that, in speaking up for his people at the expense of himself, he would have immediately earned respect from a group of men and women wanting to believe in him more than he could ever imagine.
Instead, he chose to look out for himself. He got the raise, all right. But he lost a lot of respect along with way, and that comes at a cost that’s tough to estimate, but will be easy — very easy — to measure.You Might Also Like:
