Accountability, Leadership, and the Logic of Either/Or

An Excerpt:

Yet an overly litigious culture often forecloses a chance for true accountability. Rather than owning whatever part we played in a situation of harm, we may desperately fend off critics to recuperate our innocence. By default, then, the logic of either/or also precludes the possibility of leaders taming their shadows.

It may feel best just to pretend that the shadows don’t exist at all — self-justification appearing to be easier than acknowledgement and confession. Not only does this either/or narrative of innocence require that we ignore our shadows, it gives them permission to lurk — unchained, unleashed, unbound — wreaking havoc on our relationships and foregoing the possibility of repair.