I’ve been thinking about the resignation of General McChrystal since it happened a few weeks ago. It had quite an impact on me, as it did on many of you. A general taking a bullet for the team.
I was fascinated by the varying ways the story of what happened was discussed. Most people put their spin on it, aiming for political and personal gain instead of thinking about the good of the military and the country. The shoutfest that passes for news these days was neverending…often without any rationality or attention to facts.
It seems to me that the person who acted with thoughtfullness and put the good of all above his personal good, was General McChrystal himself. He did the rarest of things, he accepted responsibility. He apologized without reservation and then offered his resignation. No hemming, no hawing, no blaming others, and…no lawyers.
All too often I see people in all walks of life who credit all success to themselves and all failure to others. Their ego knows no bounds. They want wealth and power without accountability. They can do no wrong.
It’s a shame that once his resignation was accepted the story totally disappeared, overtaken by the next opportunity for the talking heads to spout their ignorance in their neverending attempt to tear down rather than build up. The general made a hard decision on the world stage…and should be an example of how a real leader acts when faced with a situation requiring someone’s head.
What would you have done? What have you done?