Mark McGuire —a failure in leadership

Without question Mark McGuire needs to accept responsibility for his decision to use performance -enhancing drugs.  Yet if there was ever a case where leadership failed the organization, the steroid scandal in baseball is the case study.  While there are numerous leadership principles violated, two jump out immediately.  The first is “There are 2 ways to do things, the easy way and the right way.  Leaders make sure things are done the right way.”  When Major League Baseball and the  MLB Players Association were negotiating their collective bargaining agreement, the issue of drug testing was quickly pulled from discussions.  Neither party  wanted to alienate the players.  Yet anyone who had even the slightest connection with professional baseball knew the use of steroids and amphetamines were rampant.  Yet rather than deal with a tough issue, both parties avoided the drug testing like the plague.  Because of that reluctance, the credibility of baseball and the careers of many great players have been damaged beyond repair.  Today everybody associated with baseball wishes the leadership would have implemented a drug testing program.