Justice @ Work - Loyalty

Does loyalty to our boss require that we risk being tainted by their bad reputation? I was tested on this yesterday.

Last night, I represented the company at a three hour meeting of 120+ of our investors. They have lost large amounts of money in the Real Estate collapse and they’re angry and scared. They blame my boss, the owner of the company. To a degree their blame is valid – he acknowledges that he made a number of mistakes and misjudgments. But it so easily becomes personal – accusations of fraud, personal enrichment at investors’ expense, and various kinds of malfeasance were flying freely in the meeting. In the past I was advised by others to distance myself from him so that I wouldn’t be “tarred with the same brush”. Wise advice, it would seem – why unnecessarily have my reputation tarnished through “guilt by association”?

But last night I felt I had to speak out (my boss wasn’t there). I acknowledged his and the company’s mistakes, but had to speak of his integrity and strong, if sometimes misplaced, code of ethics. What investors often don’t realize is his unstinting commitment to do whatever he can to restore their investments over the coming few years. Or the sacrifices he has made – far from being enriched, he has lost everything he had, including many millions of dollars of his personal fortune spent trying to save these same investors who are accusing him of greed and selfishness. He still refuses to give up fighting for them, despite the class action law suit they have filed against him. I said all this, and the eyes were rolling, the smirks widening, and the murmurs growing. Did I change anyone’s mind? Of course not! Did the mood of the meeting improve? Not a jot.

Did my reputation suffer? Actually, no I don’t think so. For all the sniggers and disagreements, the bad-mouthing stopped and we returned to the more important business of the meeting – what to do in the future, not what has happened in the past. I think the reaction was that I was sincere but misguided (“well of course you’d say that”). But most important of all, I think justice was served.

I had never thought of loyalty as a matter of justice, but last night it was very much so. What was being said was unjust, despite the circumstances. To leave it unanswered would have been unjust. The calumny must be responded to. The Psalmists often complain to God about the lies that are told about them. The book of Job is full of his “friends” purporting to understand Job’s motives. The prophets experienced it all the time. Loyalty requires that these wrongs be righted, and that challenges to reputations be redressed. Loyalty stands up for one’s boss, or friend (think of Jonathan defending David before his father Saul). Loyalty will not stand by and allow the other to be slandered.

Was there a risk in my loyalty yesterday? Yes, there always is. But a person of faith is familiar with risk – faith is a matter of risk after all (if the outcome is certain, then it isn’t faith!) I’m glad I spoke up. Justice demanded it!