The Star Tribune (May 17) recently ran a review of a book by Fred Kiel with the headline:
FRED KIEL HAS TAPPED STATISTICAL RESEARCH TO SHOW THAT
COMPANIES LED BY CEOS OF HIGH INTEGRITY GENERATE SUPERIOR FINANCIAL RETURNS.
This same theme was
the central message delivered by David Brooks, the lead columnist for the New York Times, when he gave a superb
talk at the Westminster Presbyterian Church forum in mid-May. He noted how we have moved from a society
more focused on values of character to one that celebrates what he terms
“resume building”. We are all too
focused on personal achievement and recognition as opposed to the more
productive leadership of character rooted in a value system that truly
understands the greater good.
To this point, a
friend sent me an email after my op-ed was published this past April calling
for the dismissal of President Eric Kaler and others (see Arne
Carlson Star Tribune Commentary).
He took note of a
tragedy that occurred at Fairview Hospital while the late Carl Platou was in
charge. By way of background, Carl Platou was a World War II hero who went on to
distinguish himself as one of the nation’s foremost leaders in hospital
administration and the improvement of medicine. Walter Mondale referred to him
as a “genius”. Simply put, Carl Platou transformed medicine not only in
Minnesota but nationally as well.
His final project was
the creation of the biomedical research park that appropriately bears his name
and that of Win Wallin, another Minnesota great. They formed a Board of
Visitors with a mission to raise some $300 million from state and private gifts
to make that park a reality.
However, by all
standards, Carl Platou’s resume, particularly in the academic area, was most unimpressive.
His was achievement by doing and working extraordinarily well with others
toward a very pragmatic vision. He mastered team building.
Getting back to the
tragedy, a child died after being given an overdose of anesthesia due to an
incorrect reading. The attorney for Fairview advised Platou to stay away and
allow them to handle it in court.
According to my
friend’s account: Instead, Carl sought out the parents, told them exactly what happened,
and then, we all cried together.
All the Fairview upper
management went to the funeral including the individual who made the mistake.
The parents never sued. I am sure Carl worked out an appropriate settlement. As
my friend noted: He clearly accepted responsibility.
Now let’s go to May of
2004 when Dan Markingson ended his life in a most gruesome suicide. At the
time, he was in a drug trial financed by a large pharmaceutical company at the
University. His mother, Mary Weiss, made
every effort to get him out because she noted that his behavior was
increasingly erratic. In one message she pleaded for her son’s release and declared:
Do
we have to wait until he kills himself or someone else before anyone does
anything. Her plea was rebuffed and within a month Markingson
violently ended his life.
The efforts by Ms.
Weiss and her friend, Mike Howard, to find out the how and why of her son’s
death were met with administrative stonewalling. At one point, they were
escorted by security out of President Brunick’s office. Finally, Ms. Weiss sued only to have the
District Court rule that the University’s Review Board was “statutorily immune
from liability”. Due to the technical nature of the dismissal, the Court did
not hear or rule on the full substance of the case.
The
President and his attorneys then turned around and sued Mary Weiss for legal
fees.
As more people
including members of the faculty and scientists around the globe joined the
chorus calling for a truly independent investigation, the Bruinicks’ and later
the Kaler administrations continued to stonewall requests for data and kept
repeating a fiction of numerous investigations that were “exhaustive” and found
no fault.
Now Eric Kaler, the
new President, who has a most impressive academic resume, did not create the
stonewalling or the untruths of multiple investigations that were “exhaustive”
and “found no fault”. However, he had a
choice when he arrived in 2011. He could
meet with the Professors who were waving the red flags and who had fully
informed him as to what was transpiring in drug testing which brought millions
of dollars to the University and its researchers but was also rift with
financial conflicts of interests, false claims about investigations, and abuse
of enrollees. Or he could take the road of least resistance and continue the
cover-up. He knowingly chose the latter.
Currently, President
Kaler is under siege from some of his faculty and others for his lack of
truthfulness and participation in a cover-up that protected serious
misconduct. Their claims are fully
supported by a recent report by the Legislative Auditor. Yet, there is no
acceptance of responsibility.
And then in a Star Tribune (May 17) opinion column
entitled “WHAT DID THEY DO TO MY U?” the University’s former chief of clinical
cardiology, Robert F. Wilson, wrote: The
administration is plagued by cronyism and conflicts of interest. There are
legitimate questions about the transparency and truthfulness of its leaders.
Poor leadership is how we got where we are, not lack of money.
And it shows on the
bottom line. In the national rankings of
medical schools, we continue to drop.
This has been a story
of leadership. Both men were clearly talented but they did not bring the same
vision of leadership nor the same elements of character. Nor did they bring
about the same results.
Who would you follow?
