Loyalty: Staying True to Your Own

I've recently started hearing an increase in the amount of discord among our government officials. Left bashes Right; Right bashes Left. Blame the President. No wait, blame the Secretary of Defense. And while we're at it, demand an immediate impeachment for the President and the resignation of everyone else that makes a decision that doesn't suit our fancy. Would you like to know something? The President alone doesn't make a decision based simply on his wants. Neither does the Secretary of Defense, or any other high level government leader for that matter. They have subject matter experts and staffs that conduct research, and provide an incredible amount of information that results in a recommendation, followed by a decision based on the information.

This type of he said, she said within an organization is ludicrous, not to mention very damaging. Quite frankly, I'm finding it more irritating than anything. How does our country's leadership expect to accomplish anything positive if they can't get along? I think I heard about this interesting concept around the age of 5 while playing in the sandbox.

Perhaps it's just me. But being career military, and now working for the Department of the Army, I learned something very important years ago that I still firmly believe today. It's actually quite easy. Just one simple word; LOYALTY. For a look at what loyalty means, allow me to quote the definition of loyal from the much-revered and long standing book of Webster. "Loyal: faithful to the lawful government, the sovereign, a cause, or a friend. Loyalist: a faithful follower of a cause. Loyalty: Fidelity." To put this into perspective, let me suggest that this could translate into "support of", as in support of one's leadership or organization.

We've all had bosses at one level or the other that we didn't think very highly of, or maybe even the word incompetent comes to mind. But how do we react to these people and still maintain a thriving team, organization or even government? Do we publicly criticize everything that they do or say? Do we make them the subject of break room conversation, bashing their very existence while subconsciously reaffirming our own self proclaimed greatness? Or do we tactfully suggest alternatives when issues arise? How about maybe not agreeing with every decision they make, but showing support for their decision and motivating others to do the same. You'd be surprised at the results. Consider this: Not supporting, or being disloyal to your organization or leadership is a recipe for guaranteed failure. Join those that gain a sense of accomplishment by discrediting their organization and it will crumble from within. However, believe that your organization is the best, and it will be. Take a good look at your organization from within. How do we do this? Easy; look in the mirror. People are the organization. You, me, him, her, and them.

Unfortunately, I think the worst case of disloyalty that I have ever witnessed is within our very own government. Politicians are all too ready to publicly question, criticize and discredit their peers and leadership. Take a big slice of that blame and sling it from here to eternity. Forget about tackling and solving the problem as a team. Let's just make someone, anyone, look like a blooming idiot. Makes us look better. How can we let them get away with such gross insubordination? Why do we allow them to use the media as an outlet to publicly bash others? I think that any government official who publicly demonstrates a lack of loyalty to their government or leadership should be immediately fired and lose all benefits associated with their "unfaithful service". Why should we reward them for irresponsible behavior?

This is about the time that the First Amendment issue comes up. What about their right to voice their opinion? As a constitutional right, there should be no question as to whether they can. However, publicly bash your organization or its leadership and you're fired. We are not going to levy charges, prosecute and ask for the death sentence. You're simply not the right person for the incredible job of helping to run a country if you have the time to spend playing the mud slinging blame game; time that could have been used for something constructive and positive.

Unfortunately, this dilemma will continue. I personally don't see a method to combat disloyalty when it seems to be the norm, as destructive as it may be. Besides, if we fired every public official tthat demonstrated disloyalty, I fear we would be operating with a skeleton crew unable to even keep our head above water.