Safety Tips for Kind Leaders: Musings on Boeing and Lincoln University of Missouri

By design I don’t normally talk much about current events on this podcast, but I think I’m going to make an exception here. Because the juxtaposition of two recent organizational crises in two very different industries got me thinking about broken systems and cultures, where our obligations as kind leaders to challenge and heal those cultures start and end, and how to make sure we’re putting on our oxygen masks first when everything around us is falling to pieces and you are the one in the crosshairs.

On the surface these two systemic breakdowns from January 2024 are going to seem pretty unrelated, but bear with me. There are some common threads here, and important ones for any leader who wants to be effective, humane, collaborative, and most of all safe.

Welcome to the Kind Leadership Challenge, where I present short, actionable challenges that empower educational leaders like you to build a better world without burning out. I’m Dr. Sarah Clark, founder of the Kind Leadership Guild, where I use my PhD in Higher ed leadership and nearly 2 decades of experience in academic libraries to advise a growing community of leaders who are ready to transform their school or library’s doubt, dysfunction, and drama into confidence, clarity, and trust. Kind Leadership’s pretty simple, but it’s rarely easy. So if you’re up for a challenge, stick around to learn how to create a legacy that will strengthen your community long after you’re gone.

Let’s kick off with the story that will seem a bit off-topic at first glance. The first one began on the evening of January 5th in the skies over Portland, Oregon. A few minutes after Alaska Airlines flight 1282 took off, a Door plug, or panel installed in the side of an airplane to plug an unnecessary door opening, blew our at about 14,000 feet, causing an uncontrolled decompression of the plane. Thankfully the pilots were able to land the plane safely and no serious injuries were reported, but the world was shocked to learn that the near-catastrophe had been caused by bolts that had not been properly installed on the brand new Boeing 737’s door plug--and initial inspections found the same problem on other new airplanes. The CEO of Boeing quickly owned up to the “Quality escape”—and as I record this, Boeing, the FAA, and the NTSB are working to figure out what happened to Boeing’s systems and how to fix it. Because if there is a culture of sloppiness and missing details, then similar malfunctions could happen to any Boeing in the skies. 

The second story is a heartbreaker that hit close to home for me. And frankly, if you don’t think this or something similar could happen at your school or library, you’re not paying attention. On January 8th, Dr. Antoinette “Bonnie” Candia-Bailey died by suicide 5 days after being terminated from her position as vice president of Student Affairs at Lincoln University in Missouri. As I read more on Linkedin about the circumstances of probable burnout from impossible expectations, unsupported mental health struggles, alleged bullying and harassment by the president of the university (now on administrative leave), and the general toxicity that contributed to this tragic outcome, I felt something in between despair and rage. For all the claims we make to becoming a fairer, more equitable, and inclusive society, I keep seeing various versions of Dr. Candia-Bailey’s story play out in microcosm throughout my career, both inside and outside of higher education. 

There are several important lenses we as leaders need to use in exploring these two events, and I’m going to link to some of the best pieces I’ve seen in the show notes. But after reflection about what I am best qualified to rant intelligently about, I think I’m going to take things back to the root cause of both events—a broken organizational culture. Because if a plane door falls off or an organizational leader is driven to self harm, there is something wrong with your culture. And that begs a question for us leaders who may both feel the effects of a toxic system and feel an obligation to fix it. If you are a leader in a toxic culture, what are your responsibilities to your organization, your community, and most importantly to yourself?

I’m going to tackle the last responsibility, the one to yourself, first. because I want to make this crystal clear. Kind leaders want to build a better world. That’s why we try to improve ourselves with resources like the kind leadership challenge podcast. But we also want to build a better world WITHOUT BURNING OUT. There are situations and institutions where the obstacles standing between you and change leadership are high and grueling. I have had workplace experiences where tackling those hurdles and disproving naysayers, abusers, and harassers was worth the fight. I have had other experiences where it wasn’t. 

As my fellow Gen x nerds know from that classic movie War Games, sometimes the only winning move is not to play. When you are up against harassment, bullying, and systemic struggles that are beyond your strength to endure, It doesn’t matter how much you love the organization, or your team, or the role. It doesn’t matter if you’re the “first”. It doesn’t even matter if you did make some mistakes on your learning curve. Boeing engineers being discouraged from reporting problems in order to keep construction on schedule just makes delays worse when all the 737s get pulled from the skies to make emergency repairs. And yes, educational leaders make mistakes every day. Lord knows I do. But the last I checked, a boss having “serious concerns” with a team member’s performance, as Lincoln University President John Mosely said in his termination letter, isn’t considered a death penalty eligible offense by the state of Missouri.

Long story short— nobody deserves workplace abuse, or even to work in a job that’s hazardous to their wellbeing. it’s just a job. you can always leave. And you should always remember you can leave, because not every organization, no matter how beloved or prestigious, deserves your talents. If an organization requires martyrs in order to function, then the organization is not worthy of your efforts to keep it going. You are not letting the bullies win, you are setting yourself free from an organization that does not deserve you. Because if you don’t lead yourself out of a toxic situation, who will? 
 
 I’ve had two jobs in my life that briefly beat me down to the point that I momentarily considered self harm. I’m generally a pretty optimistic soul any my default is to feel fortunate to be alive and healthy-ish, so both those moments passed quickly. However both moments were wakeup calls. In one case I left the toxic job, and it was one of the best choices of my career. In the other situation I stayed in order to learn some lessons the crisis had to teach me, but I changed how I related to my work to ensure that I would never again believe my job was a literal matter of life and death. Eventually I and others were able to heal the culture so what happened in our organization would be unlikely to recur. That choice to stay was also one of the best choices I’ve made in my working life. Now, I’m not going to tell you what to do in your situation, even if you book a coaching session with me. But I am telling you that you always have the right and ability to leave, even if it might take some preparation or hardship. If you remember nothing else from today’s episode, remember you can always leave.

So let’s say that you determine that you are both able and willing to stay on and heal your organization, as I am sure well intentioned, talented leaders are doing right now at both Boeing and Lincoln University. There are two things you need to keep in mind. First, you will need plenty of strong, passionate allies to make a culture shift work. It takes a system to change a system. The lone rescuer is at best doomed to failure, and at worst will be deliberately or unconsciously be set up as the scapegoat. And if you can’t find enough allies, well, remember that not all organizations can or should be saved.

Second, it’s easy on those moments of righteous indignation to develop an intricate 28 point plan for cultural transformation. Doing more don’t usually work to heal a broken culture. What does work is one or two small changes, repeatedly instituted over a long enough period of time that people come to trust them, and maybe even adopt them themselves. What if you checked in on a stressed out colleague, or double checked that purchase request before sending it over for approval? An action repeated by yourself becomes a habit, and a habit adopted by others becomes your new culture.

Which brings me to your kind leadership challenge.  What’s the biggest thing that drives you nuts about your culture, and what can you and your colleagues do to change it? If you could use a tried and true framework to think through your challenge and take action on a possible solution, head over to kindleadershipchallenge.com/next to download te next steps checklist. You’ll also get regular musings and thought provoking questions to inject a little extra kindness into your daily life as a leader.