Scrutiny
June 1, 2009
The nomination last week of Sonia Sotomayor to the Supreme Court dominated the news. She seemed to be an extraordinary person that would well serve the highest court in the country. Her past life is now under intense scrutiny. Every decision, ruling, opinion she has expressed in the past will be analyzed, debated and judged by both her supporters and detractors. Her private life, I am sure will also be investigated.Could we personally sustain such a scrutiny?
We say that we should not do something we do not want to be on the front page of tomorrow’s paper or posted on YouTube.
But what about the past?
We have all done things that we are not proud of and would rather not see them made public. How do we deal with them?
We sometimes try to forget them but that obviously does not work if we are thinking about them as I write this blog and as you are reading it!
We should first make a fundamental distinction between the misdeeds that caused damaged or hurt to others and those that did not.
In situations where our actions cause damage to ourselves only (and they are rare), the best thing we can do is make a commitment not to repeat them. It is surely the best way to learn from our mistakes. We might even consider sharing those mistakes with others, people we trust. The psychological impact of having “told someone” can be very positive and liberating.
In situations where our misdeeds caused damage to others, the best option is to apologize and offer reparation if possible. I will never forget when David Finn, the Co-founder and Chairman of the company, apologized to me for having raised his voice and expressed slight anger in a moment of hectic preparations for Ruder Finn’s 50th anniversary. My respect and admiration for him and the company took an immense leap. It takes leadership and great self-confidence for someone in high position to apologize to someone in a lesser position.
We should aim at living our lives so that we can sustain any scrutiny and be “above suspicion” because Mark Twain was right when he said:
“When one’s character begins to fall under suspicion and disfavor, how swift, then, is the work of disintegration and destruction”
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