A disheartening story has been unfolding this week of the deceit and downfall of a leader in the financial world, Russ Wasendorf, Sr., founder of PFGBest. I would not normally pay much attention to such a story in the media, but in this case, Wasendorf's company is two miles south of our home, his house is one mile north of our house. Wasendorf's influence in Cedar Falls has been broad, and this story has certainly rocked the community.
There are many leadership lessons (in the negative sense) to learn from this sad saga. In the leadership classes and books I've taken in over the past five or six years, the lesson on creating a system of accountability to ensure integrity is never more clear than in the note that Russ Wasendorf Sr. wrote himself before he attempted suicide.
No matter how morally strong we believe ourselves to be, safeguards against the destructive lure of pride and power need to be put into place. Whether we're a CEO or a stay at home mom, accountability is a needed ingredient in our days to keep ourselves living in the realm of reality and truth and out of the ditch of deception.
CEO Suicide note details:
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