The 3-Step Test Every Board Should Use Before a Crisis Makes a Leader Untouchable
Platner, Trump, and Altman show the same pattern: when a leader is too costly to lose, accountability gets harder for any organization to enforce.
EXPERT OPINION BY SOREN KAPLAN, WSJ BESTSELLING AUTHOR, KEYNOTE SPEAKER, AND LEADERSHIP STRATEGY ADVISOR
Graham Platner, Donald Trump, and Sam Altman. Illustration: Inc.;
On June 29 the Supreme Court declined to hear President Donald Trump’s appeal of a 2023 verdict in which a civil jury found him liable for sexually abusing and defaming the writer E. Jean Carroll. A federal judge ordered nearly $5.8 million released to Carroll. Despite that, Trump kept command of his party and the White House. Graham Platner wasn’t so lucky.
As the Maine Democrats’ best hope against Senator Susan Collins, the Marine veteran and oyster farmer built a movement around economic populism and won his primary with over 70 percent margins. Then a woman accused him of sexual assault, an allegation he called categorically false. But within 48 hours the party’s leaders had turned against him. He suspended his campaign shortly thereafter on July 8.
Both men faced similar allegations serious enough to dominate
Both men faced similar allegations serious enough to dominate the news. Yet their outcomes looked nothing alike. The gap came down to one thing: how removable each man was.
When the people who could remove leaders weigh an accusation, are they also weighing what it would cost themselves to lose that leader. Not just in money, but in time, power, position, or anything else that maters to them. That’s the essence of “removability.”
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Removability decides who survives
Boards, investors, and political parties don’t always act as juries trying to weigh evidence while presuming innocence. More often than not, they act as owners weighing a position.
When an allegation lands, the people who can
When an allegation lands, the people who can remove a leader often ask a colder question than whether the allegation is true. They ask what it costs to keep this person, and what it costs to let them go.
Platner failed that math instantly. He had been leading Collins in the polls, which made the speed of the collapse the real story. But he was still only one of several Democrats who could theoretically beat Collins. With sufficient time left to replace him, Democratic power brokers cut him loose since to them, it was a cheap option that carried less risk than keeping him. The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committeesaid it would not invest in the race if Platner was on the ballot, and the decision was made.
Source: www.inc.com
