By Ron Schmidt
There’s an old expression that goes, “I went to a fight and a hockey game broke out.”
Luckily this didn’t happen in my days coaching kids, but on every NHL team they have a guy who grew up on the frozen tundra of the Great Plains and was given the job of the enforcer, sometimes referred to as the “goon.” While as a defenseman he didn’t have the skill set of the forwards, when the coach needed to change the momentum or to talk to and rest his players, he’d have a goon pick a fight.
And of course the fans would love it, both men and women; it was viewed kind of like a school yard scuffle. But unfortunately, the goon was the guy who’d go through the season with multiple undiagnosed concussions and whose brain would be donated to medical science for CTE research. As a kid in high school, while we didn’t have goons, we had “bullies.” They were a sad lot and unlike today, where the bullies pick on the little guys, our bullies just fought each other. They were socially awkward, didn’t join sports teams or academic groups, and actually we felt sorry for them in an unusual way.
In today’s political discourse we see elements of goons or bullies in the form of name calling, threats, and women and wives’ names getting tossed around in an array of verbal punches. But while a hockey brawl is a side-show, this has become the main event in politics. Recent polling reveals that men mostly put up with this, but two out of three women are offended by language, temperament and volatility. While women do enjoy their hockey, they distinguish between a game and reality.
Another role defensemen play is keeping the puck in the opponent’s end while allowing his forwards time to score as the other team attempts to break out and clear the zone.
What Was Once Untouchable...
Our political discourse is teetering on breaking out into zones thought untouchable in the past. We as a country, and an industry, need to make sure that this outrageous behavior stays in the political arena and we don’t allow it to spill over into the zone affecting our service to members and employees. And since our industry is dominated by women at many levels, including board positions, we as an industry need to take note.
Howard Schultz, CEO of Starbucks, responded last summer to a request that he run for president. In the piece he wrote for the New York Times he put in perspective what’s important as we look in our workplace mirror. “Too many of our political leaders are putting party before country, power before principle and cynicism before civility. The values of servant leadership – putting others first and leading from the heart – need to emerge from every corner of American life, including the business community. Everyone seeking the presidency professes great love for our nation. But I ask myself, can you be a genuine public servant if you belittle your fellow citizens and freeze out people who hold differing views?
In our business settings are we focused on what Howard Schultz thinks is important, or do we tend to get in a brawl that will take us out of our game? Keep the puck in your zone and score the good goals for your members and employees!
Ron Schmidt, CPA, is co-author of “How Am I Treasting You? Living With Civility and Dignity,” and is with CBS Certified Public Accountants in Solon, Ohio. He can be reached at rschmidt@cbscpasllc.com, or 440-542-1536, ext. 28.