orders from Haldeman “very mixed. I wasn’t
geared to take orders, irrespective of whether
they were ethically or morally right.” He explained,
“We had a few clashes, as plenty of
things that Haldeman wanted to do were questionable. An amoral atmosphere permeated
the White House.”
One day, Haldeman directed Huntsman to
help him entrap a California congressman who
had been opposing a White House initiative.
The congressman was part owner of a plant
that reportedly employed undocumented
workers. To gather information to embarrass
the congressman, Haldeman told Huntsman to
get the plant manager of a company Huntsman
owned to place some undocumented
workers at the congressman’s plant in an undercover
operation.
“There are times when we react too quickly
and fail to realize immediately what is right
and wrong,” Huntsman recalled. “This was one
of those times when I didn’t think it through. I
knew instinctively it was wrong, but it took a
few minutes for the notion to percolate. After
15 minutes, my inner moral compass made itself
noticed and enabled me to recognize this
wasn’t the right thing to do. Values that had accompanied
me since childhood kicked in. Halfway
through my conversation with our plant
manager, I said to him, ‘Let’s not do this. I don’t
want to play this game. Forget that I called.’”
Huntsman told Haldeman that he would
not use his employees in this way. “Here I was
saying no to the second most powerful person
in the country. He didn’t appreciate responses
like that, as he viewed them as signs of disloyalty.
I might as well have been saying farewell.
So be it. I left within the next six months.”
Balancing Your Extrinsic and
Intrinsic Motivations
Because authentic leaders need to sustain