[May 18, 2015] Leaders have to deal with a host of problems that are destructive. Lately, something we’ve seen developing is the troubling aspect that many people now believe they are privileged. Thus, possessing the power of privilege they are special and are somehow justified to be both exempt from rules of behavior and deserving of unearned benefits.
While we don’t see this discussed much in conversation, senior leaders do recognize it is a problem and that it has gotten worse over the past few decades. There is fear in leaders because they know that by tackling the issue head-on, they put themselves at risk. Those who see themselves as privileged – and who will later cause problems in the workplace if they don’t get their way – are difficult to detect before being hired.
A number of academic studies since the early 20th Century studied the concept of privilege; usually from the perspective of how race benefits those in the dominant racial category. This is how most view the concept of privilege. Often called a system of privilege, however, privilege can be based on race, gender, age, disability, military veteran status, etc. My personal experience is that many veterans create problems for themselves when new at college or the workplace because they “expect” to be treated better than others and should be exempt from some of the rules.
This has become a troublesome problem for leaders, especially in the United States. One distressing issue with those who consider themselves privileged is that they see themselves as being morally superior and behave in ways that can destroy. This can be especially dangerous at high levels of government; for example, Italian dictator Benito Mussolini (Il Duce) – the classic privileged politician – aligned his country with the Nazis during World War II.1
The solution to workers who act privileged (they damage the workplace and those around them) is difficult. Part of the solution is to have strong core values, a positive work environment, and transparent leaders. Unsurprisingly, what we do see is that few leaders actually push back on “privileged” workers. This explains, in part, why there has been such an explosion in those who are privileged. Until our leaders gain a little backbone, moral courage, we will continue to see this problem destroy.
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