LM54 Laughter Matters -I'd rather be right than President

LM54 Laughter Matters -I'd rather be right than President

Laughter Matter, Episode 54, 1/6/20, I’d Rather Be Right Than President

Welcome to the return of Management Monday. Recently the Hallmark Channel had a controversy when a conservative religious organization was offended by commercials that depicted a same sex couple getting married. Hallmark pulled the commercials only to get backlash from the LGBTQ community. Three days later they reinstated the commercials and I’m thinking, “There are people who actually watch commercials?”

In my opinion, Hallmark Channel’s management looked inept and ended up angering both communities.

In 1948, just months before the presidential election, Harry Truman decided to desegregate the military. One of his advisers, Clark Clifford, said, “it is the right thing to do, but the wrong time to do it. You will lose southern Democrats and the election.”

President Truman said, “I’d rather be right than President,” and he signed the Executive Order.

I made many decisions as a hospital CFO and CEO and, I am sorry to say, even though I almost always knew what the right decision was, because of expediency or pressure, I didn’t always make it. Inevitably,. I came to regret it and had to correct my decision. Like the head of the Hallmark Channel, I looked inept and people lost confidence in me. I would implore you to make those decisions you feel are right. You will sleep well at night and whenever heat you may feel from it will pass quickly.

If you are a leader, I would encourage you to read David McCullough’s biography about President Truman titled Truman and always remember laughter matters.