The Evisceration of Elliot Spitzer’s Ethos: A Lesson

My black berry was on Spitzer overload yesterday afternoon. Press alerts flooded my in-box, I had to silence the ringer. But not before I spoke with a colleague who called from a photo shoot in Berlin, Germany. The demise of New York State Governor Elliot Spitzer was officially global.

"It’s all over CNN. Everyone is talking about it. It’s just too far fetched to comprehend," said my friend Elsie Maio, a corporate branding expert who specializes in helping companies align their behaviors with their values. While the said connection to a prostitution ring was disturbing, the apparent ethical breech of a lawmaker was just as upsetting. Another lesson in the perception of authentic leadership. The Spitzer brand, The Sheriff of Wall Street, has taken a fall.

In January 2007, in Spitzer’s first speech to the New York State Legislature; campaign finance reform topped the agenda. Ethics, reform, transparency; key words. It was the platform upon which he hung his hat, after the gunslinger whittled away at corruption on wall street. He’s not the first, and likely won’t be the last to allegedly defect from walking the talk.

"The implied expectation was that Elliot Spitzer would have a certain set of personal values based on the values he imposed on others," said Maio.  "It was assumed that his ethos would be as impeccable as he expected others to be."

What this illustrates, Maio shared, is the unsustainability of taking on a position without the foundation of a true authentic value system at one’s core – from which one behaves. That means taking action from one’s own moral dimension, not just catering to the needs of constituents – or in the case of corporations – shareholders.

"It becomes posturing when it doesn’t come from the heart and soul of who you are," says Maio. "It must be a position that you are committed to," Maio says; both in the public eye and behind closed doors.

The lesson, Maio says: When actions and behaviors do not reflect authentic core values that have been clearly thought-out, contemplated, and committed to – that’s when companies and people get into trouble.