James Mattis, the Secretary of Defense for President Trump, has written a book about his time in the Trump Administration. He explains the reasoning for remaining in the administration and his eventual reason for leaving.
He is a decorated and well-respected military leader and has worked for four decades for the United States. He is admirable and worthy of respect.
In one area we disagree. He believes he owes the administration a ‘duty of silence’. This is commonplace in large organizations, where employees feel it is better to leave than to disagree with the management and/or openly express their unhappiness with the direction of the organization. I can understand this feeling. I did this for forty years in my career. But, this is business where you have a choice and can move on.
Not true for government. You can’t quit and work for a second, competing US government.
In this arena, you have to stand and fight. The administration, any administration, has to be responsible for their actions and individuals are responsible to fight for their viewpoints. This is the bedrock of our governmental system. That’s why we have prosecutors and defendant lawyers and not a cosy group who sits around and decides your fate in a courtroom.
This is why it is so distressing that people who disagree with the administration leave rather than express their ideas and take the heat. That is their reason for being there. They are the experts, not the President.
In a normal government administration this is not an issue because the President has integrity and has more than a 7th grade knowledge base of information. But, not so in this administration.
So, workers have to express their ideas, good or bad, right or wrong, regardless of the circumstances and consequences. This is how it works.
If you didn’t want the job, you shouldn’t have taken it!
Now is the time that you have to stand up and demonstrate integrity!