Message in a bottle

In these days the Italian politics is a bad show, just great for comedians: three parties with similar amount of votes and none of them in a position to form a new Government. With the eyes of internatiknal and financial community looking closely, situation is getting heavy. Still, in this catastrophic scenario, there are some great lessons in that I find valuable for any organization.

Some days ago, for example, the President of the Nation - one of the last and few highly respected institutions of the country, led by a man who is recognized by the vast majority of the population to be wise - took a decision; in the Italian Constitution he is the person who assigns somebody the task to form a Government... This candidate will have later to go in front of Parliament with a proposal of what he wants to do and a team of people (the ministers) who will make it happen. Technically it's called getting the Trust: the person needs to get 50% + 1 votes in Parliament to start leading the Government.

Just that - as said - noone can get the Trust currently.

To move away from the situation, mr Napolitano decided to make a move: he appointed 10 Wise Men (i can abandon politically correct expressions: they are all men) to make proposals on the most urgent issues of the country both on economic and politic situation.

Let's see what happened:
- the ten men where rethorically introduces as "wise"... But when public opinion went through the list, it was clear that, while some of them have a background and a cv that could fit with such a definition, some others clearly not and they are there because of a "game of thrones". does it sound familiar? Did you attend any of these announcement in which somebody is promoted/assigned and despite of great words spent on him/her, most of the people think or know it's just a game of thrones? And what's the outcome (apart from having the wrong person in place) in terms of trust of the organization for those announcing...?
Lesson: people you appoint or promote speak on your behalf. The organization will judge you because of them, not viceversa. And there's no rethoric speech or words that can save you from this.

- few days after the announcement, one of the wise men said - in a private conversation that was not private, infact it was broadcasted via radio - that the entire 10 wise men initiative was just a tentative to waste time while planning "behind the curtains" for the election of the new President of the Nation. When dialogue was broadcasted, the reputation of the same Napolitano was put on danger, with big risks for the entire Country.
Lesson: in current world, with overwhealming power of media and social media, keeping a secret is a Mission Impossible. Making games with the trust of people by selling them something while reality may be different is a managerial suicide. Shen it comes to the why we do things, data and truths are crucial. Why you are promoting the person, why he/she has undisputed plus for the position? And if he/she doesn't have but deserves it anyhow for other reasons, can you tell them openly? If not... Rethink your action. It's not only a matter of leadership... It' s your own credibility.

- time has passed and the 10 wise men are near to end of their assignment... What they will issue will be considered a responsibility of Mr Napolitano himself, no matter what he says on being satisfied or not (and we all hope he will be satisfied). Does it happen in organizations? Do people recognize responsibility for actions and proposals of people they promote/assign? Do they admit errors and mistakes?
lesson: don't take risks in promoting and assigning people that you don't believe capable for the job, as people will judge you through their results.

Every promotion you announce, every assignment you assign, is a message in a bottle that tells about you and your credibility. by definition, the bottle is transparent...