From the Inside Out – Eliot Spitzer

The governor of New York, Eliot Spitzer, has been a hot topic this week in the news and dare I say in the blogosphere. I have hesitated about writing about the mess I see with this governor. Why? Because accept for God’s grace, there is no one immune from allowing their impulses to dictate their behaviors. And for the consequences of that choice to become public.

As a blogger in the career niche I get lots of comments about people losing their jobs – terminations, specifically. People who get fired for one reason or another. One person recently wrote that he/she stole a gift card. They knew it was wrong when the thought came into their mind, but they did it anyway and today they regret it. Why? Because they got caught and in the end, that impulse to steal cost them more than they were ultimately willing to pay.

By no means do I want to minimize the behavior of the soon to be unemployed governor of New York, but what he did, many before him have done and many more will continue to do, because they don’t think they will be caught. Kinda like my gift card reader.

So what is going on? Why do people behave as they do, knowing that the consequences may be greater than they are willing to pay? It begins with what is going on, on the inside of a person. The governor for all his efforts to be a great crusader in New York. To espouse high standards of behavior, and expectations and yet something was out of alignment in his life. I submit that he was out of alignment from the inside out. He was warring within himself, he was unable to reconcile the impulses and desires he had with the external man that the world saw everyday.

Can I share one thing that I found telling in his resignation speech? I am sure you heard it, but I have been thinking about it a lot since I first heard his speech. At the very end of his speech he says “I am deeply sorry that I did not live up to what was expected of me.” Let me make it very simple, this statement of apology is not a statement of accountability. According to the statement, it was everyone else’s expectations. What about not living up to the expectations he had for himself? Not living up to the high standards he held for others?

What I want you to take away from this post – Accountability for your choices. So many people lose their jobs and wonder how they got there – in the unemployment line. There are unethical decisions made daily that affect the lives of people, but there are times, many times when we should look in the mirror and deal with the person you see. Terminations, resignations are hard whether you are a governor or not. Your recovery from the inside out will begin when you reconcile the person within. When you begin to understand what motivates you, your impulses and the choices you make. When you see that, and become accountable for the place you find yourself, then you may be ready to begin the steps it will take to move forward and be a productive employee for the next organization.