on key chapter topics
CASE STUDY 2.1
A Modern-Day Libertine
in France, multiple marriages, multiple
affairs, and serial seduction don't usually
mean the end of a political or business
career. The French are less concerned about
the personal lives of powerful people than
are citizens in the United States. Particularly
in the case of male public figures, affairs
and seduction are often seen as signs of
strength and virility and thus are admired
rather than condemned.
This laissez-faire attitude toward the
private sex lives of the political elite may
be changing thanks to the excesses of
Dominique Strauss-Kahn (known as DSK)
A French economist, DSK was head of the
International Monetary Fund and was
favored to become France's next president.
But he lost his job and any chance of win-
ning the French presidency when he was
charged with sexually assaulting a New
York hotel maid in 2011. He was cleared of
criminal charges in the New York rape case
but reached a financial settlement with the
victim. Later he admitted to participating
in a series of upscale sex parties costing
around $13,000 each. These events began
with formal dinners and ended in orgies.
Strauss-Kahn reportedly wanted to have sex
with three or four women at each of these
parties. To meet his needs, event organiz.
ers sometimes hired prostitutes when they
couldn't recruit enough other female par
ticipants. While prostitution is not a crime
in France, employing prostitutes is. DSK has
Chapter 2 Stepping out of the Shadows
65
to engage in sexual infidelity no mar.
ter what their nationality. They are more
confident and have access to more part
ners. At the same time, they are less bound
by societal rules and have a greater ten
dency to fail to exercise self-restraint,
Commenting on Strauss-Kahn, one political
science professor noted:
For powerful people, it's part of the
thrill that they can get things that other
people can't get. They are usually sur
rounded by sycophantic people, and
after a while they come to believe that
they have a right to be surrounded by
attractive men and women. There is a
sense of entitlement that is a general
attribute of power
1
been accused of being part of a prostitution
ring. He denies that he had anything to do
with arranging the parties, noting that he
generally arrived late. By that time most of
the women were naked and he had no idea
who was a prostitute and who was not
DSKhas beendescribedasamodern daylib
ertine Libertinism, which dates back to 16th-
century Europe, is a philosophy based on
the pursuit of a life without moralistic lim-
its." Its best known advocate was Giacomo
Casanova, who believed that as long as he
lived within the law he should be able to do
whatever he wanted. The former IMF chief
operated according to the same philosophy
at least when it came to sex. In a magazine
interview, DSK admitted: "I long thought
I could lead my life as I wanted. And that
includes free behavior between consenting
adults. I was too out of step with French
society. I was wrong
While Strauss-Kahn kept the dark side
of his sexual proclivities secret, his sexual
appetite was public knowledge. He was
called the "Great Seducer," the 'hot rabbit,"
and the "frisky Frenchman before he took
over the IMF His third wife (who has since
left him) even argued, "It's important for a
man in politics to be able to seduce." At the
IMF, he admitted to having an affair with a
subordinate.
Entitlement, not lust, may be the best
explanation of DSK's libertine behav-
ior. Members of France's elite have long
ignored the sexual restrictions put on the
middle and lower classes. However, the
link between power and sex isn't limited to
France. Powerful men and women are more
The same night DSK was arraigned
for the alleged New York attack, another
powerful man, former California governor
Arnold Schwarzenegger, admitted to have
ing fathered a child with a member of his
household staff. He kept the affair and his
son secret from his wife, Maria Shriver, for
a decade.
Discussion Questions
1. What other powerful leaders can you
name who have apparently engaged
in sexual misconduct out of a sense of
entitlement?
2. What can followers do to prevent their
leaders from feeling entitled?
3. What other factors, aside from power,
might encourage leaders to believe
likely than their less powerful counterparts
36
Part 1 The Shadow Side of Leadership
CASE STUDY 2.2
The $300 Sneaker
LeBron James is the world's best basketball
player. Perhaps it only stands to reason, then,
that his namesake basketball shoe would be
the world's most expensive. Nike's LeBron X
sneaker is the latest item in the Miami Heat
star's signature shoe line. The Plus version
of the product, retailing for around $300,
is equipped with motion sensors that allow
wearers to measure their vertical leap and
quickness. The less expensive version, cost-
ing $180, comes without the sensors.
Two groups make up the primary mar-
ket for the LeBron X Plus: high school
students seeking the latest fashion and
"sneakerheads." Sneakerheads like to col-
lect shoes, sometimes never taking them
out of the box. African American youth
make up a significant proportion of both
groups. There have been reports of young
people in minority communities being
beaten up and their expensive athletic
shoes stolen. Mark Morial, president of the
National Urban League, an organization
that promotes African American economic
development, urged Nike to withdraw the
shoe. "To release such an outrageously
overpriced product while the nation is
struggling to overcome an unemployment
crisis is insensitive at best," he said. "It
represents twisted priorities and confused
values." For its part, Nike denies that it
is arbitrarily raising prices and claims
Chapter 2 Stepping out of the Shadows
67
and they promote the values of teamwork,
responsibility and good ethics, and I think
the launch is inconsistent with Nike's pro-
jected and professed values."
Imagine that you are a top-level Nike
executive. Would you produce and market
the LeBron X Plus?
Notes
that the sensors in the shoe provide valu.
able information to players who want to
improve their performance.
While it refused to discontinue the LeBron
X, Nike did put new safety rules in place for
the day of its release. Retailers were not
allowed to open at midnight to start selling
the new model; they had to wait until 8.00
a.m. This move was made in response to the
chaos that had occurred during the earlier
release of Nike's Air Jordan XI, a replica of
the original Air Jordan shoe. Police had to
break up crowds in malls and other out-
lets in Seattle, Atlanta, Louisville, Houston,
San Antonio, and Spokane. Morial noted
that these incidents cost taxpayers money
because they required the intervention of
law enforcement, and he further asserted
that the release of the LeBron X was a con-
tradiction of Nike's stated values: "Nike
has tremendous influence in this country,
1. Martin, J. (2012, August 22). $300 sneaker
rankles some. USA Today, p. 1C
2. Kaplan, B. (2012, August 29). Footloose and
fanciful. National Post, p. ALB.
Sources
Jonsson, P. (2011, December 23). Concord pande
monium: "Sneakerheads flock to grab Air Jor
dans. The Christian Science Monitor
Stoda, G. (2012, August 25). Don't blame LeBron
James for $300 sneaker. Palm Beach Post
muence in this country,
James for $300 sneaker Palm
CASE STUDY 2.3
Death by Peanuts
Nothing scares consumers more than the
thought that the food they eat may not be
safe. And rightfully so. Every year, 325,000
people are hospitalized in the United States
as the result of eating contaminated food;
5,000 die. Some survivors suffer organ dam-
age. In recent years, recalls have been issued
for tainted almonds, cantaloupes, jalapeño
peppers, tomatoes, spinach, pistachios, and
other food products. Fifty Europeans died in
2011 from eating fenugreek sprouts tainted
with a rare form of E. coli bacteria.
One of the most serious breaches of food
safety in the United States to date involved
the Peanut Corporation of America (PCA).
which had plants in Georgia and Texas. The
firm's peanut paste and peanut butter were
used in an estimated 4,000 products, rang.
ing from Thai food, granola bars, and peanut
butter crackers to frozen cookie dough and
ice cream. General Mills, Kellogg's, PetSmart,
Kroger, Nutrisystem, and Clif Bar & Company
used PCA as a supplier. PCA shipped directly
to schools and nursing homes as well. In fact
authorities issued a recall of all products usin
PCA ingredients when an elderly woman in
rehabilitation facility in Minnesota died aft
eating tainted peanut butter.
Part 1 | The Shadow Side of Leadership
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