The Hoffman Report-Leadership Lessons Learned
The Hoffman report and the reactions from psychologists across the country has led me to reflect on professional ethics and what we as an organization can learn from our mistakes. My reactions, like many of my colleagues, have run the gamut from shock, disbelief, anger, sadness, blame , and profound disappointment. I see lessons in leadership, both good and bad, that APAPO can use to make the organization stronger. I also see personal lessons that I would like to bring to my professional leadership, in APAPO or elsewhere.
1. Self-reflection. What are my personal values and beliefs about professional ethics? What are areas of weakness that I need to be aware of? If we don’t first have a good understanding of ourselves and understand that we are all subject to error and implicit biases, we are more susceptible to make bad choices.
2. No one is immune. No individual, leader, or organization is above reproach. We can’t sit back and trust APA, or a particular influential APA leader, to make decisions for us. We need to have an active critical awareness of events in our world, and we need to make our voices heard and take individual responsibility to be the voice that takes a stand
3. .Responsibility is key. Any leader can make a bad decision. A good leader takes responsibility for bad decisions without excuses. A good organization also takes responsibility and apologizes for bad decisions.
4. Transparency is crucial. While the Hoffman report results are disturbing, I applaud APA for taking the step to commission the report, provide open access to data, and provide the results for the membership and the public. This type of transparency would have been useful earlier in the process.
5. Communication matters. I appreciate the prompt response of current leaders such as Dr. Kaslow and Dr. McDaniels, as well as forums for open comment such as state and division list servs and the planned town hall meeting at Convention. Each of our voices matters.
6. Diversity. Organizations with diverse viewpoints make better decisions. Limiting leadership or tasks forces to groups of like thinking people results in poorer outcomes.
7. Checks and balances. APA has already been working on organizational change, and this is an excellent opportunity to consider how structural changes could positively impact the organization.
8. Devil’s advocate. During my time as President of OPA, we instituted using a devil’s advocate when discussing important policy issues. This was particularly important when the group appeared to have high consensus. Asking someone to act as devil’s advocate opened up room for dissenting opinions and forced the group to look outside their own narrow view.
9. Perseverance. I am sad that some APA members have noted they are giving up their memberships. While I respect their decision, their voices are needed more than ever to make APA a stronger organization.
10. Crisis = Stress/ Opportunity. With this crisis comes opportunity to build a better organization that more accurately reflects our profession’s values. Despite how stressful and hurtful this process has been for us as a profession, I am confident it will help us grow into a stronger and more effective voice for psychologists nationally.
