Jamie Dimon has long been revered in financial circles for his leadership and long list of successes.
This week he is under intense scrutiny for the $2 billion loss on JP Morgan’s books. The loss wasn’t caused by something he did, but it happened on his watch. And that makes the poor choices and bad behavior of others his responsibility.
Today he faces shareholders. It will be interesting and probably educational to learn what he says. To date, he’s taken responsibility and swift action to make sure such a debacle doesn’t happen again.
What happens on the leader’s watch is his or her responsibility. That is one of the most sobering aspects of leadership. That’s why Harry Truman kept the famous sign on his desk, “The buck stops here.”
When you are the leader, there is nobody else to pass the buck to.
What’s happening on your watch? What have you done to safeguard the well being of your organization, your people and your constituents?
Maybe you should tape a dollar bill to your desk as a reminder of the vigilance required to lead effectively.
Echoing this principle in his farewell address, Truman said, “The President—whoever he is—has to decide. He can’t pass the buck to anybody. No one else can do the deciding for him. That’s his job.” Ultimately, whenever and whatever went wrong, Truman knew he was responsible because he was (as George Bush liked to say) the ultimate decider. When a flood of criticism poured in for his decision to use the atomic bomb—one of the most devastatingly consequential decisions in history—Truman never for one moment attempted to duck, dodge, divert or evade responsibility. Harry Truman was a leader. Jamie Dimon is in the midst of a war himself. Will he learn from the leadership lessons of Truman? Does he have the foresight, wisdom and will to make tough, perhaps painful, decisions that are in the best long-term interests of the people and the system itself? Or will he move in the direction of his own short-term interests and that of his shareholders? The way I see it, it’s the difference between moral leadership and being a tool of the market.