[August 02, 2014] A retired U.S. Marine officer writes that there are leaders who are cowards in the workplace. In this recent article, my first reaction was … yes! … leaders that are cowards on the battlefield have no place in the military. But this was not his intent with his article. “The Coward Leader” is about moral courage and how so many in government and business lack this fundamental character trait.1
Source: Cartoon Network – “Courage” the cowardly dog
He notes that coward leaders “always take the easy way out” and “always blame others.” Avoiding any problem puts the coward leader in the position to destroy employee morale and to make things difficult for everyone. Coward leaders are everywhere and every organization will have them. The retired USMC officer gives some good advice. His tells us to find the best job you can and then resign. All other options, especially not doing anything, have negative consequences.
Everyone will eventually have to work with or for a coward leader. I will add one thing to this otherwise fine article. My advice is to never tolerate the coward leader’s bad behavior. If you find yourself in the position of working for one of them, do what you can to notify the coward’s superior and immediately get out of that position. The reason that coward leaders are common and continue to create disorder and destruction is because their actions are tolerated.
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[1] http://bizcatalyst360.com/the-coward-leader/