Bob talks today about the leadership and the concept of plausible deniability. This is in light of the recent news out of the University of Louisville that recruits and players attended parties at which girls were available for sex that had been paid for by a team graduate assistance coach.
After setting the context for this item within the leadership discussion, Bob reports that subsequent coverage has moved toward whether or not head coach Rick Patino was aware of this or did his staff not tell him in order to have him keep plausible deniability.
Plausible deniability has been defined as the ability for persons (typically senior officials in a formal or informal chain of command) to deny knowledge of any actions committed by others (usually subordinates in an organizational hierarchy) because of a lack of evidence that can confirm their participation, even if they were personally involved in or at least willfully ignorant of the actions.
Leaders in organizations of any size should take care that their staff does not embrace this concept. It has the ability to crumble the entire organization.
Links Discussed in this Episode
ESPN’s break of the story is here.
Rick Patino’s response is here.
Pat Forde’s interview on The Dan Patrick Show is here.
The book Breaking Cardinal Rules is here.