"5 Leadership Failures That Contributed to the United Fiasco"

     Last week the internet was buzzing over a controversial event on a United Airlines flight. When the flight was overbooked, a passenger of asian decent was forcibly removed from the aircraft. A video went viral of the disturbing interaction between United employees and the customer. CEO, Oscar Munoz then issued an initial statement in reaction to the event that also received major criticism
     Today I came across an article (link below) that highlighted "5 Leadership Failures That Contributed to the United Fiasco". The five leadership lessons are listed below.

1. "Never compromise your core values."

Like we discussed in class Monday in relation to ethics, it is important to not only have organizational values but to follow the organizational values you instill as well. In the case of United, their core values of "warm and welcoming is who we are," "we make decisions with facts and empathy," and "we earn trust by doing things the right way," were clearly not followed and Munoz did not readdress the companies' values in the letter he wrote to his employees.

2. "Hold yourself accountable."

When bad things happen within your organization, it is important not to place blame on others but to hold yourself accountable. Munoz failed to do this in his letter when he focused on the customers' actions as opposed to his employees' actions. 

3. "Anticipate what can go wrong."

It is important to anticipate the possible things that can go wrong within your organization. In this instance, it isn't unlikely to come across passenger resistance when trying to get people to give up their seats on a flight. United should have anticipated this possible scenario and prepared for it.

4. "You can't walk it back."

You can apologize, but you can't take back your actions. Munoz sent out a second statement to try
and better his original statement, but the damage had already been done and could not be erased. It is critical to take time and thought into situations like this before rushing to take action.

5. "Be human."

Munoz's initial response lacked empathy. He strictly defended his employees and placed blame on the customer rather than addressing the emotions of both parties involved. It is important in these
situations and in any situation as a leader within your organization to be human and to be empathetic, even toward those you may disagree with.     

     There are lessons in leadership to be learned by other's successes as well as their mistakes. The United fiasco is an example of a variety of leadership failures that we can learn from as we go forward in future careers in leadership.

https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/292820