Crying leaders and respect

Last week we were treated to crying cricket leaders, and I struggled to respect them. For those who aren’t ardent cricket fans (I’m not incidentally), here is a report of the CHEATING  they were found guilty of during test matches. Read here.

3 players, including the Australian captain Steven Smith were found guilty of tampering with the ball with sandpaper, which gives an advantage to the fielding team. Apparently sandpaper was hidden in the men’s trousers and used between bowling balls to impact on the swing of the ball when it was bowled. Guess what; this is illegal. And unfortunately for the culprits, their crime was eventually picked up by the TV cameras and the evidence presented. Upon being banned, the world was treated to a display of crocodile tears. See the jaw dropping performance below.

The professional cricket player, Steven Smith, who was highly respected, sobbed and, ah di dums, had to have his father give him support. This is the captain of the Australian cricket team, who was considered a leader of men, unable to keep it together and needing Daddy to be on hand. Well I say PATHETIC.

There are often criticisms of female leaders or executives being ‘over emotional’ or being accused of being manipulative by crying, so why is it in any way acceptable for a man, and in particular the leader of a national team to sob; and not because there had been a terrible tragedy, but BECAUSE HE’D BEEN CAUGHT CHEATING.

There is time and place for emotion; whether this be men being over aggressive in certain situations AKA Tucker or Jamie in The Thick of it; or women crying over something really trivial, in the workplace. Particularly if you are a leader, who  has cheated. Crying or sobbing in this way shows a lack of moral backbone and respect for other people. It ‘smells’ of hypocrisy since you are only in this mess because you were caught cheating and as the captain you had made the decision to cheat. It shows a manipulative personality that you felt it was in any way right to have crocodile tears instead of addressing the public like an adult.

As a leader, manager or future leader, you need to demonstrate to others: your bosses, your stakeholders, your team, that you CAN take responsibility for your decisions and actions. Just because you are a sportsman and a ‘hero’ for many people doesn’t mean you have any right to sob when you are caught cheating. You lose our respect.

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