WHEN to sack or when to ignore? That was the dilemma facing two leaders this week. One was President Obama over his Afghan army commander, General Stanley McChrystal. The other was Fabio Capello and his England team member, John Terry.
After reading the general's critical comments about himself and his civilian Replica Fendi Handbags staff, Obama pulled the trigger. Capello watched the footage of Terry's press conference in which he attacked the manager's approach and let him stay. Yesterday, Terry turned out for England and played well, saving what might have been a goal that would have sent the side out of the World Cup.
It's a problem that confronts all bosses at times: the insubordinate employee. But there is a fundamental difference in the way we and the Americans, especially, tackle it.
Consider the working day of General Sir Richard Dannatt, going about his duties as Constable of the Tower of London. Effectively the manager of the place, he's required to attend ceremonial and social events at the Tower and chair bi-annual meetings of two charitable trusts. And he must be present when a member of the royal family or a Cabinet minister visits.
When he was made the 159th Constable last year, Dannatt said: "I am delighted to be appointed as the next constable of Her Majesty's Palace and Fortress, the Tower of London, following in the footsteps of some particularly illustrious forebears. It is a considerable honour." Nevertheless, within the military it's regarded as a sinecure, a non-job for the former chief of the general staff, the most senior member of the Army, still aged only 60.
Other soldiers with careers as distinguished as Dannatt's have gone on to run other government organisations and receive peerages. Not Dannatt. He was supposed to be becoming a defence adviser to David Cameron but that hasn't occurred either. Why? The suspicion has to be that he is paying the price for speaking out against his political masters about the war in Iraq. In a newspaper interview in 2006, the general said: "I don't say that the difficulties we are experiencing round the world are caused by our presence in Iraq, but undoubtedly our presence in Iraq exacerbates them."
Dannatt talked about the lack of preparation for the post- successful invasion, saying it was "poor, probably based more on optimism than sound planning". His comments produced a Downing Street rebuttal that Britain had a "clear strategy" and worked with international partners "in support of the democratically elected government of Iraq, under a clear United Nations mandate".
But not for Dannatt the summons to see the boss and public execution, as happened to McChrystal. While the US general's comments were more personal and direct than those of his Replica Jaeger LeCoultre Watches UK counterpart, their meaning and effect was exactly the same. But McChrystal went immediately and Dannatt ostensibly remained.
Unlike our Prime Minister, the US President is commander-in- chief of his country's armed forces. Obama really is McChrystal's boss in a direct chain of command. Here, the relationship between the military and political leadership is less clearly defined.
While American army officers like to think of themselves as separate (and superior) to Washington, the grandest military title and most impressive uniform does not belong to a serving soldier but to an elected politician. That is not the case here, so the distinction between the military and politics remains somewhat blurred.
