The Silencing of Leadership

My accountant Marie Ellis at Elite Accounting Services sends out a newsletter each Friday.

‘Weekly Round Up’ always has some interesting news items. This week there was an entry on the sacking of the CEO of Ben & Jerry, David Stever by the parent company Unilever.

To ensure I don’t get this wrong, here is the piece:

Ben & Jerry’s Boss Fired Over Political Activism
The CEO of Ben & Jerry’s, David Stever, has been removed from the company by its parent company, Unilever. Last month Ben & Jerry’s accused Unilever of demanding that they stop publicly criticising Trump. Ben & Jerry’s then filed legal allegations with a US court, which stated Unilever had violated a merger agreement by attempting to ‘silence’ its ‘social mission’. Unilever has said it’s ‘disappointed that the confidentiality of an employee career conversation has been made public’ and it made ‘repeated attempts to engage the [Ben & Jerry’s] board and follow the correct process’.

This was of particular interest to me, because in my early days of women’s activism, I was encouraged to learn that Unilever was one of, if not the first large organisation to support a Women’s Leadership Development Programme, started by Eleanor McDonald OBE, one of my heroines in women’s development movement here in the UK.

I am sure even a cursory search across history would inform that even then supporting the progression of women further in the workplace was frowned upon by many organisations even more than it is today. But that it was this pioneering approaches like that taken by Unilever then, that have helped to bring about changes in the gender parity issue, albeit that we still have a long way to go.

I find it disappointing now to learn that Unilever in the USA has chosen to take this particular stance. If individuals are not free to speak honestly against views which they object to then the right of ‘free speech’ is lost, and we move towards a totalitarian state.  Are senior leaders all now at risk of losing their jobs, should they dare to voice a different opinion from the USA ruling party?

Heaven’s forbid.

I trust that more leaders will be brave enough to stand up for and speak out for what is right.  As human beings, we should all have the right to our independent views and the right to share those views and opinions, as long as these do not bring or support the harm to others.

You might think that maybe this is a point I should not have commented on, but the impact on how leaders are dealt with in situations where there is a difference of opinion (the individual to the organisation) sets precedence for others in the organisation.  The impact will be felt in several areas within the organisation such as diminished psychological safety, inclusion, and equality. When people don’t feel that they can be themselves in the workplace, they will leave as soon as they can. The organisation suffers from the loss of expertise, skill, talent, knowledge, etc., as well as reputation.

Here is a further news piece from NPR in America, which provides more detail and is worth reading:
Ben & Jerry’s alleges its CEO was fired over its political activism. Here’s the scoop