Does The End Justify The Means?

Episode 19:  The Long John Flap

Klinger:   Father, over here.  I would like to ask your advice on a spiritual matter.

Father:     Why certainly.

Klinger:   If you need something – I mean, if you’re really cold 

or something – it wouldn’t be a mortal

sin to steal from somebody who was kind of a rotten 

person anyway?  Would it?

Father:    Have you stolen something?

Klinger:   These (passes out from hiding a pair of long johns)

Father:    Oh, my.  Aren’t they nice. Whoever you took these from  must be very cold now.

Klinger:    Father, if I give them back, the certain person I took them from would like to have me killed.  I’ve really been trying to avoid that lately.

The 4077 are experiencing a cold snap.  Hawkeye receives a pair of long johns from home, which become a coveted item in camp and are traded among the personnel, until they are stolen and returned to Colonel Blake to try and find the original owner.

One of the complications of leading in a world of relative morality and blurry boundaries is how easy it is to allow the end to justify the means.  These are those occasions when unethical or even illegal actions are engaged by organizations to achieve the desired outcomes, at whatever cost.   As leaders, our perception of the greater good should never compromise the truth of what actually is good.  Without clear absolutes, boundaries or vision our core values and integrity are at risk of becoming the casualty of morally and ethically questionable methods.

Commanding Loyalty

Episode 9:  Henry, Please Come Home

Hawkeye:  When were all of us really happy here?

Trapper:  When the nurses were new?

Hawkeye:  We were happy when Henry was in command. He understood 

          us, we understood him.

Colonel Blake is transferred to Tokyo after the 4077 achieved a 90% efficiency rate and Henry received a special citation from General Hammond.  With Frank Burns in command, running the camp like a dictator, Hawkeye and Trapper devise a plan to try and get Henry back.

Leadership in a post-modern world can no longer use position to command loyalty and respect, it has to be earned from a foundation of trust.  I may be appointed as the leader of my church, however, my position and title does not automatically assume that people will follow my lead.  I can only command people’s loyalty by winning their hearts and minds through building authentic relationships.  Loyalty cannot be taken, it is received.  Loyalty cannot be manufactured, it is cultivated.  Loyalty to a leader or an organization is driven by mutual respect and commitment to a shared set of values and a common vision.

Dealing With Crisis

Episode 2:  To Market, To Market

Hawkeye: Don’t confuse me I can only handle one catastrophe at a time

Trying to meet a deadline for secretly delivering Colonel Blake’s antique desk to the black market, in exchange for essential medicine, Hawkeye and Trapper become locked in the Colonel’s office.  Hawkeye is faced with multiple crisis of getting out of the office, delaying the chopper and the risk of getting caught!

Crisis has the ability to bring out the best and worst in leaders.   It is relatively easy to lead in the calm when everything makes sense, but in the midst of a crisis when confusion reigns, that is when the true value of leadership is revealed.  A leader needs to be able to maintain clarity of thought to effectively navigate an individual or organization through crisis.  To have clarity of thought during crisis depends upon having a clear understanding of your vision and values before the crisis occurs. Vision and values provide the foundation upon which a leader can confidently make the right decisions and give appropriate direction, especially when faced with opposition.  Having a clear reference point during periods of crisis in my ministry has empowered me to stay the course and not allow conflicting agendas derail the mission of the church I am leading.