Good Leader/Bad Leader
Blog / Produced by The High Calling
In April 2010, an oil explosion on a BP oil platform in the Gulf of Mexico killed eleven people and caused the greatest oil spill in U.S. history. The CEO at the time, Tony Hayward, uniquely rose to the occasion with what will surely become known as the most self-absorbed leadership quote of all time:
“What the hell did we do to deserve this?”
No doubt Mr. Hayward was operating under an extremely stressful situation, immensely more intense and tragic than any of us might ever face in our careers.
But, still.
It is clear that Mr. Hayward was a wee bit preoccupied with himself and the career-branding implications of this tragedy, rather than seeing the bigger picture and stepping up to lead the organization through an epic crisis.
