Tuesday, May 22, 2012

A corporate culture founded in doggie doo

If the president of a company is the type of person who would leave a bag of dog poo in his neighbor's mailbox, what kind of leader do you think he is? With a leader like him, what kind of corporate culture do you think he supported?

Bob Furnad, former president of CNN Headline News, was captured on video last weekend leaving a bag of his dog's poo in his neighbors' mail box. Mr. Furnad admitted leaving the bag. "This was an immature act in response to years of malicious rumor mongering that I consider defamation of character," Mr. Furnad told the local Georgia newspaper.

The neighbors have said they haven't even spoken with Mr. Furnad in years and don't know why he would leave the poo in their mailbox. They said there is no feud. 

Mr. Furnad's immature behavior is unacceptable for a 70+ year old man, a corporate executive, a leader of any kind. What are the chances this was a one-time lapse of judgement, a rare lapse of maturity? I bet zero chance.

I wonder if Mr. Furnad was the type of leader who blamed others for his shortcomings, wallowed in mistakes, and failed to build valuable relationships. Would a leader who premeditates putting dog poo in his neighbors' mailbox foster a culture of accountability in which everyone was valued? Not likely.

If he would put poo in his neighbors' mailbox, chances are really good that he slung it around in the office too, although not literally of course. Or, perhaps literally.

Story on GMA

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