The Big Story: Messages with Yemen war plans inadvertently shared with reporter: A timeline of the Signal mishap
“‘I’ve heard how it was characterized. Nobody was texting war plans, and that’s all I have to say about that,’ Hegseth told reporters in Honolulu while on a layover on his trip to Asia.”
The cover-up is worse than the crime.
2-minute read
The leadership gods force us to relearn this ancient political wisdom with Sisyphean regularity. Whether we forget it because of distraction or hubris, we pay for it with the steep price of lost trust.
The latest case study? Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth and other Trump administration officials discussed plans for an attack against Houthi rebels in Yemen on a text chain that mistakenly included the editor-in-chief of The Atlantic.
That was, to be ridiculously generous, an unforced error.
But it’s rarely the initial mistake that gets you. It’s the second error that’s costly: the effort to pretend it didn’t happen. Or that it doesn’t matter. Or that the revelation and criticism of the mistake is unfair.
Therein lies this week’s Watergate-level reminder for every leader of any organization in which trust is simultaneously essential and essentially fragile. Healthcare C-suite, we’re looking at you.
We don’t raise this as a partisan issue, but as a living leadership illustration no leadership team should ignore. Politicians from every party and at every level have played this game and it has, on occasion, cost them dearly, too.
“The cover up is worse than the crime” is attributed to Watergate-era Henry Kissinger but the wisdom is as old as Proverbs and the adage has been applied to almost every presidential administration.
The maxim is “steeply rooted in the concept of trust,” says politicaldictionary.com. “This principle underscores the importance of transparency, accountability, and integrity in politics” and institutions.
It’s trust we sorely need in healthcare today. Leaders must be ever mindful of how their words and actions can build trust…or break it. Even in a group chat.
The Unforced Error
A catch-up for everyone returning from spring break: Last Monday, The Atlantic ran a detailed story of this text exchange headlined “The Trump Administration Accidentally Texted Me Its War Plans.” The chat was confirmed by the National Security Council and largely released.
It’s not a great look, but ok.
Then came error two.
Asked for comment on the chat, Secretary Hegseth said, “Nobody was texting war plans, and that’s all I have to say about that,” then went on to call The Atlantic editor “a deceitful and highly discredited so-called journalist…”
“Oh, for God’s sake,” posted old hand journalist Brit Hume in frustration.
Whether the texts included actual “war plans” or merely plans for US military strikes that named the weapons and the timing of their use is a distinction without a difference.
It’s gaslighting and it’s a quick way to turn a short-lived embarrassing error into a long-term and corrosive problem. It’s the choice for sophistry and equivocation, to deflect blame in a crabwalk to sidestep responsibility undetected, hidden in a cloud of words.
The Hard Work of Owning It
Transparency and authenticity are hard, humbling work. It can feel unnatural, too, exposing your imperfect humanity when your instincts and ego urge you to verbally evade.
But mistakes do happen. Barn doors are left open. Data slips out. People stumble. When everybody with a phone is a reporter, mistakes are hard to hide.
It’s in that inevitable moment you face a choice: Play the costly game or be the leader healthcare needs now (and always has).
Here’s the good work to remember when that moment comes:
- Acknowledge. That the mistake happened, that you’re responsible for it, that you understand the gravity of it. Of course, not every misstep carries the same weight or consequence. Balance your response appropriately.
- Attack. Not others for revealing it, but by addressing the issue head on and being first to do so. Being first allows you to set the conversational table, explain the nuance and define what matters.
- Advance. Your values. Talk in real language about “what we hold true,” how this moment reflects a departure from those values and how you hold steadfast to them.
- Act. Move forward, past yesterday’s error, to tomorrow’s action. Talk about what you are doing to correct or review or advance.
Today’s cautionary lesson from politics has something to teach every leader.
Have someone in your group chat who needs a reminder? Forward them this email…or, maybe, inadvertently hit reply-all.
Contributors: David Shifrin, Emme Nelson Baxter, Isaac Squyres, Tim Stewart
Image Credit: Shannon Threadgill
