Does the burger maketh the man? You would be forgiven for wondering why all the fuss if George Osborne eats burgers and chips whilst ‘putting the finishing touches’ to his speech on the government spending review. But something has annoyed the great British public about the way he tweeted a picture of his late night ‘takeaway’ meal. Is it because it was a ‘posh’ burger - £10 a pop – or because it was delivered to him, rather than involving a trip to McDonalds? Not really... the main disagreement with Osborne’s burger involved much bigger issues - those of integrity and trust. Many people see Osborne’s tweet as a ploy to portray himself as an average guy, grafting late into the night on an important piece of work, grabbing some food for fuel... just like you or me. And this is the rub, because some of us simply don’t believe this portrayal, and even those that do question the need to photo yourself ‘being normal’. In short there are questions around the honesty of Osborne’s behaviour and even bigger questions around the extent to which we trust him and the rest of our politicians or public leaders. In the wake of the financial crisis, newspaper hacking and expenses scandals the integrity of our leaders is becoming more and more important to us. We want to look to our leaders, and those include our managers at work, and find people who have, and live by, sound values. We want to see that reflected in their behaviour, actions and words. Authentic leadership asserts that it is who we are being when we speak (or in this case tweet) that makes a difference to others, not the image or the veneer which may be on show. The burger may not maketh the man, but circulating the photo of the burger may speak volumes.
Posted on: Fri, 28 Jun 2013 08:58:05 +0000
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