Surviving Leadership

From an article entitled "Surviving Leadership" in the March 2002 issue of Harvard Management Update (authors Ronald A. Heifitz, Marty Linsky)...

... the people who determine your success are often those in the middle; they resist your initiative merely because it will disrupt their lives and make their futures uncertain. When leading such people, the first thing to do is realize that if you've been in a senior role for a while and there's a problem, it is almost certain that you are part of the reason it has not yet been addressed. You need to identify and accept responsibility for your contributions to the current situation, even as you try to move your people to a different, better place.

... you have to be willing to accept casualties. When organizations and communities go through significant change, some people simply cannot or will not go along. But if you signal that you (as the leader) are unwilling to take casualties, you present an invitation to the people who are uncommitted to push your perspective aside."

So, let me see, the message: If you as CEO don't have the guts to make an example of an offender, you castrate yourself.