Does conduct “matter”? – November 12, 2012
I posted this question on my Facebook wall after the media frenzy of then CIA Director David Patraeus resignation due to an extramarital affair with then United States Army Reserve officer Lieutenant Colonel Paula Broadwell. Not surprisingly, the op-eds forwarded the position that there is a bright line between personal and professional life, citing that as long as one is doing his job, the personal should stay just that- personal.
It seems this bright line is becoming more cloudy with the wildly popular #metoo campaign.
While its intent is to bring awareness to the widespread practice of sexual misconduct, there is a concurrent issue that is not being addressed. After all, it takes a village for sexual misconduct to continue. The elephant in the room is the population of people who knew what was going on and remained silent. This population is exponentially higher than the perpetrators.
Bad behavior is nothing new. It is a long-standing epidemic across the board; spanning all industries, all ranks, all walks of life, perpetrated by both men and women. Since the beginning of time many people in positions of power, authority, or influence mistreat others, including their silence which allows secrecy and open secrets to flourish.
What’s new is social media. Before social media how would a #metoo campaign function? Send letters to the newspapers? Would they be published? Phone or mail a letter to everyone in one address book? Pass out #metoo letters on the street corner?
Inertia is also nothing new. Now that there is this heightened awareness of the problem what is the call to action that will bring about a problem-solving mechanism? Where is the resounding forum for the success stories of leaders who have stopped a misconduct situation? What is the #metoosolution?
All the awareness in the world of misconduct hasn’t change the fact there still is a very low bar of consistency, accountability and justice when all the stars align and the offended takes steps to report the offender. When names and faces are revealed within a community of people who know each other, it’s a completely different ball game than the one we’re currently witnessing: the rise and fall of the rich and famous.
The high-profile offenders are being publicly condemned and punished, but is that translating to justice in the real world of the nameless and faceless nobodies of #metoo stories?
One last wildly unpopular thought. What is the fallout of when someone is falsely accused of sexual misconduct? It seems due process has been suspended for the accused as it is flat out wrong to question the merits of the accuser’s story. Without a definitive process for adjudicating sexual misconduct, it is a free for all on all sides.
As that bright line becomes increasingly faint, how is society going to cultivate proactively an ethos of good conduct? That may prove to be the heavy lifting that will be met with greater resistance.
