David Brooks has an interesting piece in the NYT today Wolfowitz’s Big Mistake (unfortunately part of the subscription Times Select section ). He points out that the fracas at the World Bank surrounding Paul Wolfowitz’s salary arrangements for his companion may not really be the issue, although not altogether a side-show given Wolfowitz’s public position on clean governance and transparency. According to Brooks, referring to the World Bank staff:
“Wolfowitz had an opportunity to be their champion, but he forfeited that opportunity by being aloof. …he entered a treacherous swirl of political, institutional and personal currents and navigated them poorly. Having failed to woo the open-minded people at the bank, it was inevitable they’d be out to get him.”
Sometimes Brooks can be a little difficult to take, particularly because of his constant “Republicans are victims, because Democrats are against us and they are in every position of influence in this country” line. That theme appears here as well, but he is also making a similar point to the one I attempted to make yesterday.
Obtaining buy-in as a leader is a difficult concept for people with a purely political background to grasp, although Wolfowitz spent eight years in academia, so he should have some idea. Unlike political appointees, people in most organizations cannot easily be fired, and unlike people in the military cannot easily be compelled along a course of action they are fundamentally opposed to.
Wolfowitz is finding out the hard way that in most structures the authority you hold over people is limited to what they want to give you.
