Sabotage the Leader

By all accounts, Robert Potts, chancellor of the North Dakota University System, is a good person and a terrific leader.

Potts is out of a job.

Trouble began almost 1 ½ years ago when politically connected North Dakota State University president Joseph Chapman and the presidents of two smaller state colleges came to a legislative session with their own agendas rather than supporting the North Dakota University System as a whole.

Chancellor Potts told the presidents to “cease and desist” their support of a bill that would give their schools more money. He threatened to hold them accountable if they didn’t. If three company presidents tried to undercut the corporate CEO in the business world, they would be out of a job—right now. The first problem in this drama is that the leader did not have the authority to lead, which left the door wide open for passive-aggressive political intrigue.

Chapman then stopped communicating with Potts (more grounds for dismissal) but not with the governor and members of the state Board of Higher Education. Chapman told Governor John Hoven that he was unhappy. Hoven told Chapman he would have to meet Potts halfway. Going to the governor in an effort to undercut Potts is blatant political behavior that might also lead to dismissal in the corporate world.

Governor Hoven also met with two board members to discuss getting Potts and Chapman to work together. Why didn’t the governor get together with Potts and Chapman and put the issues on the table for discussion or see that some other appropriate person did so? That would have been leadership.

Two other board members said Hoven told them he was dissatisfied with Potts. Did Governor Hoven ever talk to Potts and express his dissatisfaction? Apparently not as Potts said he had no indication that Hoven was unhappy with him, and he is disappointed in how Hoven handled the situation. Should the chancellor of the state university system be able to expect directness from the governor of the state?

Meanwhile board members behaved in equally passive/aggressive ways. They, or some of them, criticized Potts informally. Board members with different allegiances did not talk to one another. Chapman told another college president that a board member planned to suggest to Potts that he resign. Chapman acknowledged that he had conversations with board members that “led him to believe” Potts would be asked to resign. Someone leaked the rumor that Potts would be asked to resign by the board to the local newspaper. Board members denied the rumors. Potts was not asked to resign. The board gave him a vote of confidence.

Potts, the only leader in this drama, then asked the board for authority to enforce policies and reporting lines equally across all the institutions in the university system. Absent that authority he would resign. This was an act of courage and leadership. Potts refused to “play the game” by the dysfunctional rules. He refused to be set up to fail. He brought the issue to the light of day. He did the right thing. The board lacked the backbone to grant his request. I am sure Potts expected that outcome.

Potts, a man of integrity, resigned.

Some suggestions based on my 30 years experience as a leader and consultant:

1. Joseph Chapman cannot be trusted. He should resign or be fired for his lack of loyalty, sabotage of Potts, and lack of professionalism. (he won’t, but he should),

2. The board and appropriate other people should conduct a facilitated “after action review” and ask, “What happened and what can we learn from it?” If the military can use an AAR to learn, so can this board.

3. The state Board of Higher Education and the governor should get some training on how to deal directly and privately with conflict and differences—not behind people’s backs and through the newspaper.

4. Between now and when a new chancellor is hired, the board, with state-wide input and involvement, should develop a vision for the North Dakota University System and a strategy to move toward that vision. Structure the system in the way that best drives the strategy. Do not restructure as a quick-fix to make conflict go away (the reason most reorganizations happen). If you do, you will be back in a similar situation in the future.

5. Train the board on the role of boards of directors (from stories in the local newspaper many boards in the region could use this training).

6. Follow Chancellor Potts’s advice and make roles and responsibilities clear to the next chancellor, the board, and the presidents of the colleges and universities.

7. The board should not lead day-to-day operations or micro-manage the chancellor. Hire a strong chancellor and provide that person with a clear vision to move toward and clear values to live by.

8. The board get out of the way and let the chancellor lead, and

9. Hold yourselves accountable to do what you say you will do.

Ernest Becker wrote: “If everyone lives the same lies about the same things, there is no one to call them liars. They establish their own sanity and call themselves normal.”

We live in a dark time in our world. Good people find it increasingly difficult to do good work, as Chancellor Potts discovered. They stand surrounded by too many lies, too many villains, too much selfishness, and too many cowards who do not care enough to be courageous. Often the good leaders get set up to fail and play the scapegoat for others.

The actors in this drama played by the unwritten rules they learned in this system. For them this behavior seems “normal.” Political players play the game this way every day throughout government and education. Dirty politics may be normal but they are also immature and destructive. The rules need to change; they do not work well for the citizens of North Dakota. Changing those unwritten rules will take real leadership and great maturity.

In the end it is always about leadership.

Tom Heuerman, Ph.D. is a former U.S. Secret Service agent, senior executive at the Star Tribune newspaper, and has been a writer, coach, and consultant since 1994.

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