How bad is your week? Well, fear not. Rajesh Vishwas is here to make you feel better. The Indian government official was recently suspended after ordering the water reservoir to be drained in order to retrieve the phone he dropped while trying to take a selfie at a picnic with friends.
Food inspector Vishwas took the old “but I need it for work” excuse to a whole new level, claiming that his Samsung phone held sensitive government data and had to be found. It took three days to pump 2 million liters of water from the reservoir, enough to irrigate more than a thousand acres of farmland in a water-scarce country. The phone was found but, as expected, it was flooded and unusable.
Whether or not he tried the old “put it in a bag of rice” trick aside, the whole scene was decidedly farce. But there are also simple lessons to be drawn from this victory over abuse of power shares, lessons that should apply to anyone in a position of authority faced with management decisions.
Facing the most basic expectations of what it means to be a leader, there are lapses in judgment and a complete lack of integrity. Being unselfish, looking out for others and doing your best to do no harm is an essential requirement – for example, by depriving a parched country of much-needed resources, or creating a partisan state at the heart of your government under pandemic lockdown rules. Employees, customers and the public often need it.
However, the normalization of dishonest or unethical behavior is corrosive. Two-thirds of countries rank below 50 on Transparency International’s corruption index, where 0 is highly corrupt and 100 is very clean. Bad behavior may start slowly, but over time it erodes trust within the organization, prompts others to follow the same path, and can have serious consequences — legal or otherwise. New examples emerge every day in business and politics—from misuse of public funds and bribery to other types of workplace misconduct—and often these are far from just one-off instances, but rather a cascade of them.
As Vishwas’ case shows, when shameful or self-damaging events occur, leaders often make decisions in panic. In such cases, there is an impulsive and irrational tendency to drain the reservoirs and steal the political headquarters. This response may even involve an elaborate cover-up, causing more damage than the original crime. Who could forget the Watergate scandal that led to the downfall of US President Richard Nixon? Or Bill Clinton denying his romance with White House intern Monica Lewinsky? When evidence subsequently emerged, he faced perjury and obstruction of justice impeachment proceedings for trying to conceal the incident.
Advisors and assistants must not facilitate bad behavior. Good managers seek to make informed decisions, assess risks and find effective solutions to problems with the help of team members. Sometimes it’s important to say something that you know may not please your boss but is essential to their success and survival. Being open to dissent is essential as a leader. A barrage of “yestos” following every wild whim can only be detrimental.
In the end, even if you don’t admit defeat, you must show a little remorse. After Vishwas’ story went viral, the official tried to justify his actions, claiming he had the relevant approval from the water department. (They in turn claimed that he drained more water than allowed, though they agree that any amount of fact is outrageous in itself.) After he was suspended and ordered to pay a fine, he still called the response “exaggerated.” Sometimes it’s good to know when to quit — or shell out for a new phone.
anjli.raval@ft.com