There seems to be an entitlement phenomenon happening in the
world lately. More and more people feel
they are deserving of things just for being them, and for the most part, they
aren’t anyone special. In his article,
Kramer (2003) described his “genius-to-folly syndrome” as a smart and
well-played rise to the top followed by a series of miscalculations and bad
decisions, which send the person down quickly.
Leaders seem to fall into these traps often once they reach their
perceived goal.
After working so hard for so long to achieve the level of
success these leaders desired, they felt it was time they were repaid for their
commitment and dedication. In all of the
examples, Kramer (2003) gave the leaders starting making decisions that were
not as calculated as the ones they made to get to the top and as a result they
used poor judgment. It seems that the
power they had acquired had overcome them and they felt entitled. That entitlement is what led them to make
decisions they would not have made in the past.
There seems to be a great deal of entitlement happening lately
and not just at the leadership level. It
is happening in schools, on sports fields and even in courtrooms. In the rape case against Brock Turner, (who
was found guilty yet only sentenced to six months) the judge took into account
a letter from Brock’s father that stated his son should not be harshly punished
for “20 minutes of action” (Fantz, 20016).
This sense of privilege is something that is occurring more often in our
society, kids are growing up being told how wonderful they are and never having
to face disappointment or struggle.
These attitudes are all stemming from relativism, which Lafollette
(2007) defines as “moral judgments are not objective in any important sense,
they are relative to the individual or culture” (p. 57).
We live in a time where boundaries are pushed and rules are made
to be broken. This generation of
children is struggling to survive at college because they lack the skills they
need to fulfill their basic needs. If
the idea of relativism is remotely true then we only have our generation to
blame, as they learned what we have taught them. And what we have taught them is that they are
entitled to anything and everything they want in life regardless of the amount
of work they put in. So it isn’t really
a surprise to me that top executives, who have put in the work, are making
selfish and entitled decisions once they reach the top.
Fantz, A. (2016, June 07). Outrage over six-month sentence
in Stanford rape case.
Retrieved June 16, 2016, from
http://www.cnn.com/2016/06/06/us/sexual-assault-brock-turner-stanford/
Kramer, R. M. (2003). The Harder
They Fall. Harvard Business Review, 81(10), 58-66.
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