Te Whatu Ora (NZ Health) chair Rob Campbell was sacked following social media comments about a National Party policy rejecting co-governance of water infrastructure. Photo / Supplied
Te Whatu Ora (NZ Health) chair Rob Campbell was sacked following social media comments about a National Party policy rejecting co-governance of water infrastructure. Photo / Supplied
EDITORIAL
One of the inherent tensions in leadership - whether it be for business or public organisations - is that the kind of people most suited to getting things done are often highly opinionated.
Unfortunately, in a highly polarised political culture, it doesn’t always pay to express those opinions publicly.
That tension came to head this week with controversy about social media comments by Te Whatu Ora (NZ Health) chair Rob Campbell, who attacked a National Party policy rejecting co-governance of water infrastructure.
The whole furore should serve as a reminder that having public opinions is risky business in the modern world of social media.
What gets posted on LinkedIn, Facebook or Twitter is never really private regardless of how tightly you restrict your settings.
Even a closed WhatsApp group might not be safe, as Auckland mayor Wayne Brown found out last month when one of his tennis club colleagues leaked a personal message to the media.
Rob Campbell has apologised - but has not backed down.
Organisations need to be clear and open with staff about the risks of social media posting and their boundaries for acceptable comment.
But the Campbell issue isn’t a classic case of social media posting gone wrong.
He still stands by what he said and his right to say it.
He has apologised to Christopher Luxon and the Government for any distress he may have caused. But he hasn’t backed down on his right to say what he did.
This controversy is a culture clash around the rules and ethics of public service.
Unfortunately for Campbell, he appears to be almost out on his own on this one.
There are different rules for public servants. While those rules get hazier when it comes to directors of public entities, there seems to be a widespread consensus - and cross-party agreement - that he was over the line this time.
It is a shame because Campbell is a highly respected business leader with a rare ability to straddle the political divide.
His roots are on the left with the trade union movement.
But he joined the wave of free-market change that swept the country in the Roger Douglas era of the Labour Party in the 1980s.
He’s been a bank boss and a corporate raider and more lately a highly effective director and chair of companies like Sky City, Tourism Holdings and Summerset Retirement Villages.
As a company director, he has had a reputation for being outspoken on social issues and unafraid to speak his mind.
He has ruffled feathers but in the business, his ability to get results has trumped any concerns about political activism.
In 2021, in a panel discussion at the Institute of Directors conference (reported in the Herald by Fran O’Sullivan), he made a passionate case for letting leaders speak their views.
“We need to be able to have open, constructive and critical responses and not be worried about whether you are going to get appointed to the next Government board or whether some Government Minister is going to be angry at you,” he said.
While he may regret losing opportunities to continue working on health reform and with the Environmental Protection Authority, Campbell has certainly stayed true to those words.
