That power corrupts is one of the oldest truisms of government and society. It’s right, as far as it goes, but it is also incomplete.
What really corrupts is power without a structure of ordering principles.
The saga of John Junker and the Fiesta Bowl is another example of the wild depths to which leaders can sometimes plunge.
It’s difficult to take any overarching systemic lessons from the Fiesta Bowl’s travails. There will be the predictable jeremiads against the intersection of money and sports, but no new insight is likely to be found in them.
Elite athletics will draw attention and attract big money. This is unlikely to change, even if the Fiesta Bowl is stripped of its BCS slot — a move that would harm the Arizona economy and the stability of the bowl system far more than it would bolster perceptions of the BCS, incidentally.
No one sets out to be a pariah. So, if the allegations against Junker are true, what happened to him? How did this pillar of the community end up fired and in disgrace?
Junker, fairly or not, will be blamed for the corruption at the Fiesta Bowl on a very personal level. So the lessons of this story are more individual and seem especially relevant to aspiring leaders.
First, crave accountability, above almost all else.
What is clear from the Fiesta Bowl’s downfall is that even the most effective leaders — and John Junker was among them — need people around them that will tell them hard truths. This is not an easy thing, for leaders or their confidantes, but it is necessary.
Second, leaders should treat their authority as a trust. This principle seems obvious, but leaders struggle with it constantly.
Leaders are not specially disposed toward scandal, no matter how much it seems as if they are. The special ability of leaders to find trouble is more a reflection of human nature than it is a commentary on leaders. Given the same situation as Junker, many of us would have failed in similar ways.
Leaders should remind themselves constantly how little they matter and how much the cause they work for would be harmed by their downfall. This kind of self-awareness is one of the most important gifts a good leader can have.
Finally, and perversely, it is precisely when a leader’s legacy seems secure — when his contributions are most recognized and valued — that disaster most often strikes. Each slip toward scandal can be explained away. When compared to a lifetime of service, what’s an indulgence or two?
It’s at this point, at the moment of accomplishment, that the stabilizing influence of accountability and reflection are most necessary.
Leading right is a constant struggle against human nature. Leaders, like the rest of us, tend toward laziness and selfishness and the indulgence of minor vices and great corruption. We all fail in small ways and large. Most of us are lucky enough to do it away from news stories and the threat of disgrace.
Reach Will at wmunsil@asu.edu
