A naval captain is fully responsible for his or her ship. Captain Brett Crozier understood that responsibility and acted with Intelligent Disobedience when his chain of command was dangerously slow to respond to reports of the spreading contagion on his ship.
An article by Tessa White, Founder and CEO of the SHE TEAM, offers two wonderful examples of Intelligent Disobedience at work.
In a world where the sand is continuously shifting underfoot, courage is a lifeboat. Yes, we need lifeboats even on land in these times of rapid transition, uncertainty, and abuse of power. Sharna Fabiano, Life Coach, Followership trainer and Tango teacher extraordinaire has written on How To Be Brave in […]
A year after the exposure of the massive fraud VW perpetrated on American consumers, knowingly deceiving emission control tests while exceeding emission limits by as much as 40 times, the evidence is at hand of the real culprit in the crime – a culture that rewards “just following orders”. The […]
The recent hugely insensitive advertisement by Unilever for their Dove soap is a textbook example of organizational blind spots. This is a painful example of why the voices of minorities and staff at all levels of the organization must be invited, included, raised up and empowered to influence decision making. […]
Intelligent Disobedience does not imply that the authority figure is acting immorally, though that case certainly occurs. The individual with formal authority may simply be wrong for a variety of reasons. There are many other well- intentioned reasons that a person with authority may ask us to do something that […]
What exactly is Intelligent Disobedience? I had the same question when I first heard the term. These are two words that don’t usually fit together. We know what obedience is: following orders or rules or established ways of doing things. Obeying usually keeps life running smoothly. Disobedience is a contrary […]
The Wells Fargo Scandal of opening millions of unauthorized accounts for its customers has resulted in $185 million dollar fine for the bank. What is more startling is that 5300 employees were fired over the incident according to the Los Angeles City Attorney’s Office. What more cautionary tale can there […]
Excerpt from the book Intelligent Disobedience: Doing Right When What You´re Told to Do Is Wrong by Ira Chaleff, Chapter Eleven, p.159-161 On the morning of September 11, 2001, Cyril Richard “Rick” Rescorla was on the job as a vice president for security at Morgan Stanley Dean Witter, which had […]
I recommend Dr. Arthur Schwartz’s article The Ethical Workplace: Cracking the Courage Code. Dr. Schwartz is a colleague on the board of directors of the International Leadership Association. He identifies five factors that contribute to courage in the workplace. I am particularly interested in the fifth factor that courage is […]
I recently returned from a fantastic trip to South Africa where I was able to give a talk on Intelligent Disobedience at the University of Cape Town Graduate School of Business, experience the awesomeness of nature in Kruger National Park, tour Robben Island where Nelson Mandela was held for 18 […]
I am having the immense pleasure of reading the book Giving Voice to Values by Harvard professor Mary Gentile. The book is astonishingly complementary to Intelligent Disobedience. GVV as it is known comes from a strong research background while Intelligent Disobedience is driven by narratives from all walks and ages […]
This is a very well written, engaging overview of Intelligent Disobedience. I thank James McCusker for the skill he brought in conveying the concept to his readers:
It stands to reason, though, that if leadership is important, so too is followership. You can’t have one without the other. The New York Times October 30, 2015 by Duff McDonald While you’d be hard-pressed to find a graduate school that promises to churn out “tomorrow’s followers,” the movement is […]
When Ira Chaleff came to present his book, Intelligent Disobedience, at the BK office, we realized it was more than a book to him: it was a lifelong mission… … WHY do people obey orders they know are morally wrong? That is the question…. Ira’s consulting practice helps leaders and […]
I am delighted that the Wall Street Journal is recognizing the importance of Followership. In addition to quoting my work they quote my colleagues Robert Kelley and Marc and Samantha Hurwitz who have written important books on followership and my client Brent Uken from Ernst & Young who contributed his […]
The CEO of the Volkswagen holding company — now the former CEO having been appropriately forced to resign — did not install the “defeat devices” that hid the fact of emissions five- to 40-times higher than allowed by U.S. law. — by Ira Chaleff — September 26, 2015. The “company,” […]
Intelligent Disobedience: Doing Right When What You’re Told To Do Is Wrong:…Chaleff (The Courageous Follower) proposes that individuals find a healthy balance for living in a system with rules and authorities while taking responsibility for their actions. By Deborah Bigelow, September 15, 2015 LIBRARY JOURNAL The author uses examples from […]
Career columnist “Ask Annie” gives solid advice on Intelligent Disobedience to a recent college grad on a slippery slope of obedience that could lead to ruining his career. Dear Annie: I’m hoping you or your readers can help me out of a dilemma. I’m in my first full-time job after […]
Let’s say you’re a system administrator, and the CEO comes to you and says he wants you to try to hack into a competitor’s email system. Let’s also say you don’t particularly want to go to prison, nor do you want the CEO to fire you. What do you do?… […]
Ira Chaleff's Quarterly Newsletter contains stories and usable information for those interested in courageous leading and following and healthy relationships to authority.
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