 by Dr. Jeffrey Lant . Author's program note. I wrote this article because of the appalling news emanating from one of the greatest institutions of the Great Republic, namely the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Founded in 1780 by three of the titans of the American Revolution, scholar-patriots John Adams, John Hancock, and James Bowdoin, its purpose was laudatory, important, visionary... nothing less than the dedicated uplifting of the new nation so that it would direct, inspire, and improve itself and all the world. Over the years, over 10,000 fellows have been inducted, men and women whose dedicated commitment and unremitting labor have changed the world -- and your life -- over and over again. Thus have we all been the beneficiaries and should know it, the better to extoll its undeniable virtues and signal achievements. Sadly, scandal now rocks this venerable institution in many ways, but all these ways, every single one, point to one person, the Academy's 45th President, the woman who called herself "Dr. Leslie Berlowitz," a prestigious title she bestowed on herself, when her desire for advancement subdued her integrity, judgement and the loyalty she should have felt towards the Academy which raised her high and rained riches, respect, deference and trust upon her, only to be repaid with deceits, prevarications, misrepresentations, and shame. This lamentable result was the product of two breathtaking, supremely arrogant decisions made by "Dr." Berlowicz; first, that she would forge her professional credentials, including the all important doctoral degree and, second, once that bogus degree (and exaggerated employment history) had worked their dark purpose, securing her the lucrative plum job she desired (with its 2012 compensation package yielding $598,000), immediately set about the business of threatening, cowing and controlling her staff, thereby creating an atmosphere of fear, angst, perniciousness, and menace. Thus what should have been the most liberal, progressive and humane institution of the Great Republic became instead the very symbol of hypocrisy, cant, insincerity and dissembling, the corroding antithesis of what its august founders and generations of lofty members desired and worked assiduously to achieve. What's more, aided by the somnolence of her Board of Trustees and an incurious world, this rogue made awesome progress from the moment in 1996 when she became the Academy's president until just the other day in June, 2013 when her web of lies and shoddy practices unraveled on the front page of The Boston Globe, her treatment of the staff ensuring maximum indignation, ribald comments and fascination about how she had gotten away with it all for so very many years. All bad things come to an end. Then one day "Dr." Berlowicz woke up happy as a lark, the world her oyster, another day of proven chicaneries ahead, opened The Boston Globe and... ran smack dab into Nemesis, the goddess of "what goes around, comes around." And she stood there in her luxurious robe and bunny slippers discovering that God indeed moves in mysterious ways... and now He had come for Leslie. Her jig was well and truly up and no amount of self deception could disguise that crucial fact. And so she became a candidate for that amazing grace that ""saves a wretch like me." How had this happened, after so many years of bountiful misrepresentation? Who blew the whistle on Leslie? I can't tell you for sure, but I'll put my money on a member or members of the Academy's long suffering staff, people who had endured the slings and arrows of the lady's outrageous fortune. They had suffered in silence, but that silence was now broken and on the front page of The Boston Globe no less. The rage of the "little people" had begun at last and over the next days these folks tumbled over each other with their personal stories of how Madame Leslie, now naked before the world, had humiliated them, shouted at them over trifles, belittled them, demeaned them, denigrated them, so making their lives just as miserable as possible. In such ways, she had established an environment as dark and fearful as any gulag. It was in fact just about as bad as it could be. All because Miss Berlowicz had forgotten one little word... a word Aretha Franklin knew was key for successful staff relations, indeed for any human relationship... and that word was respect. R-E-S-P-E-C-T. A 1967 hit that changed America, the anthem of uncompromising righteousness and determined purpose. On February 14, 1967 Aretha Franklin, about to become a household name and a symbol of the "new woman", got up and sang her way into history.... telling men and reminding women in sharp words that could not possibly be misunderstood, "What you want, baby, I got it/ What you need. You know I got it." This song radiated confidence, clarity about the objective, a determination to stop taking it... and to fight back. It flew high, it was adamant, it was insistent, it was pure energy and unflinching determination... Thrilling! Magnificent! Empowering! Go now to any search engine and listen to it carefully. Its potent magic has the undeniable power to turn back the clock to days when you were young and still finding your way... but you knew upon hearing it, even for the first time, that you would succeed... seizing the respect to which you were entitled but had to be always vigilant to ensure and enjoy. "Yes, respect, all I need is respect." Like all business executives, owners, and managers "Dr." Berlowicz had a choice to make, to treat her staff with decency, courtesy, and, yes, kindness... or not. She chose the dark side of the force, in the process outraging one past and present staff member after another. It worked for a time, a long time, because no one wanted to get on Leslie's notoriously unpredictable and abusive bad side, which might well result in embarrassing chastisement before their peers or even instant dismissal. Thus she got away with one unacceptable behavior after another, her irresponsible board acting like Rip Van Winkle; perhaps unsurprising since Washington Irving was a fellow of the Academy at one time. However, every time she dressed a staff member down, engaged in caustic commentary at their expense, or otherwise belittled and demeaned a staff member she was planting Satan's teeth, in due course to become a minefield of destruction and woe, destroying all of "Dr." Berlowicz' carefully contrived schemes of flagrant and unremitting selfishness. Do not make her mistakes. Instead do the following, all of which comes under that crucial category of R.E.S.P.E.C.T. Honor thy staff. Recognize that you and your staff are two crucial aspects of the same team. Each of you has a distinct but related function. You are not master but leader. Your staff is not composed of so many servants but that many necessary and vital supporters. Only on this basis can there be sustained success. Know thy staff. Each has his strengths and weaknesses. Your job is to learn these, understand these and, where possible, minimizing weaknesses while maximizing strengths through timely, pertinent education and instruction. Listen to thy staff. Each member of your staff, even the most junior has an opinion about how to make your organization run better and more efficiently. You are not now and will never be the sole repository of information that improves your operation. And never pretend that you are. Instead keep all means of beneficial communication open with the staff, solicit their ideas, consider them carefully, and reward such participation and ideas lavishly. Critique thy staff softly. Praise thy staff loudly. To build the best of teams, the team that deliver success soon and bountifully, you must identify problems and their perpetrators... critiquing them thoroughly but always gently. Remember, you want to improve not demean, enhance not dismay. This process guarantees success. To achieve this success earlier and more thoroughly praise more often and more widely. Always accompany such praise with tangible rewards ranging from free cinema tickets to a free trip to Paris. You are the fountain of honour. Act like it. "Dr." Berlowicz' outrages. We now know from voluminous media reports that Miss Berlowicz outraged each and every one of these crucial points and is, therefore, suffering public disgrace, obloquy, and anger accordingly. She is a marked woman and will be for the rest of her life, her very name a by-word for cruel and hurtful exhibitions, misuse of her high position, and remarks always calculated for maximum pain. In this way, she is a veritable model of what not to do and when not to do it. How different so many lives would have been had she lived by the points listed above. Had she, she would have earned the trust, admiration, and even love of the staff, to each and every one of whom she could say along with Aretha, "I ain't gonna do you wrong because I don't wanna/ All I'm askin' is for a little respect..." And she would have got it, deservedly, for when you treat your staff with R.E.S.P.E.C.T "thy staff, they comfort me." (Psalms 23 verse 4) and so goodness and mercy shall follow thee.... and you will find true success. |
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