Alive

Photo by Lelise Cross                                                                                        

Today I met with a good friend, Rich Merriman, who is a terrific leader who founded the Pennsylvania Trust that is now Fidelity Trust International. I have written before about always asking people who I feel have been great leaders to ask them about the key to their leadership. For Rich I have always noticed that he is the embodiment of integrity and ethics. Rich shared with me that his son, Ted, and his son’s wife are going to the Andes Survivors Expedition in January. They will visit the historic site of one of the most famous survival stories of our time.

On October 12, 1972, a Uruguayan Air Force plane carrying a team of rugby players crashed in the remote snowy peaks of the Andes. Ten weeks later, only sixteen of the forty- five passengers were found alive. The book and movie “Alive” recounts how those sixteen survived. They resorted to cannibalism of some who had died, which is a taboo, but was necessary for them to survive. It is also a story of leadership and what is necessary to confront extreme adversity and chaos in a group.

I used this story as well as the Lord of the Flies written by William Golding when studying political ethics. Most forms of modern-day governments are based on the theory of Hobbes, Locke, and Rousseau. We can learn something about responding to the Trump administration which is characterized by chaos and adversity.

First, you must decide how Trump and his administration view people in groups as we act differently in groups compared to our actions as individuals. Hobbes indicated that when people are in groups, they are competitive, insecure, and glory seeking. It’s usually, in the evolution of moral theory, the fastest way to handle chaos but its downside is absolute power corrupts absolutely. The leader is appointed by the group but cannot be removed from office. There is usually a standing army or supporters standing between the dictator referred to as the Leviathan and the rest of the people. Think dictator and the President’s cabinet.

Locke’s view is that people are basically good and well intentioned in groups. Equality and the sacred view of contracts (law) became the philosophical basis for our own government! A leader is removed from office by the orderly process of voting.

Rousseau felt that people in groups were great as seen by their desire to cooperate with one another. He called people Noble Savages. The best thing to do to avoid chaos and adversity is to see people as great but possessing basic desires to be kept in check. Utopian communities are the result of this ethic. You would know it by the often-used phrase, “he who governs least governs best.”

Golding’s book and movie, Lord of the Flies, is the story of what happens when a group of English school boys crash land on an island where they don’t know when or if they will be rescued. No adult is present. When they realize their situation, they first employ Rousseau’s view as they work together and have the best interests of one another at heart. But soon they elect two leaders with the implication that if they aren’t holding the groups together that they can be replaced. They institute a division of labor. But arguments arise when they are following Locke’s doctrine that property is sacred and you only get to keep what you have worked for. The boys’ basic nature of hostility comes through as they become competitive and turn out to be their own worst enemy. The last part of the book reflects that they literally burn the forest on the island down and barely escape death when they are rescued. It is Hobbes’ theory that dominates in the end.

The assignment that I gave my Ethics students was to write a paper where they set up their ideal government using all three political theorists. They had to include the theory of all three even if they feel one or the other is not their choice. Tell me why. Let me make the same assignment to you to reflect on the ethics or lack there of our current political chaos and adversity based on what you read this far.

But there is more. Sudev Sheth, Professor at Wharton, wrote an article, “What the Andes Miracle Teaches about Adaptive Leadership”, on the 50^th anniversary of the miracle of the Andes where he identified the leadership issues that can be learned from that event. Testimonies by the survivors point to cooperation and productive leadership challenge Golding’s view.

By providing a purpose for action, those that focused on individual ability and strengths diminish chaos. He indicated that open and robust dialogue helps overcome aversions. When the ground rules change, individuals can pivot and allow new leaders to emerge. I would add to that what I told my students is leadership is skill specific. If you are in a car crash at 2 a.m., you want to see a trauma surgeon not a plumber. But if your pipes freeze and break, you want to see a plumber not a brain surgeon.

During transitions, according to Sudev Sheth, rituals are important which is important to help leaders overcome social imbalance and maintain cohesion. I believe this is why Trumps’ failure to accept the orderly transition of the presidency as well as his recent firing of a large part of the federal workforce have been part of his creation of chaos and adversity. Trump’s constant reversals as well don’t help matters. He doesn’t accept norms.

Ronald Heifetz and Martin Linsky, Harvard Kennedy School professors, have indicated “that the survivor accounts highlight cooperation and forged leadership, not ungirded anarchy, in situations where humans find themselves in alien environments without clear goals and expectations.”

Clear goals and expectations are what is lacking in the Trump Administration which has led us as well to chaos and adversity. Given that the recent Tennessee election and other elections where blue states have dominated the ballot box tell us that everyday Americans are now catching on to his lies and bullying.

The movies, “Alive” and “Lord of the Flies” can be viewed via streaming. I used the PBS black and white version of the “Lord of the Flies” in ethics class as it follows closely to the book.