122 THE BIBLE ON LEADERSHIP
one’s job was ever at risk. ‘‘It was demoralizing for the high performers,
degrading to the poor performers,’’ he observes. ‘‘Yet most poor per-
formers know they’re poor performers. If you’ve been honest in your
assessments of them and treated them fairly and respectfully, they usually
accept the fact that they have not made the grade.’’^19
Gordon Bethune realized that one step in reviving the airline in 1995
was the removal of low-performing or nonperforming staff. This task
was understandably approached with some trepidation; if handled
poorly, the result would probably be lost productivity rather than the
productivity gains that were intended.
Bethune wanted to make sure that the consequences were applied
fairly and justly. The lowest performance rating at Continental is ‘‘4.’’
Says Bethune: ‘‘We simply asked all the 4’s to leave... Either they
weren’t doing well enough at their jobs... or because they weren’t
team players... And you know what? That final cut didn’t cause the
smallest amount of unhappiness or fear... in the ranks. ‘Jeez, they got
rid of Harry—that jerk should have been shot twenty years ago and
somebody finally did something.’ ’’^20
The rank and file employees did not quote Ecclesiastes (‘‘When the
sentence for a crime is not quickly carried out, the hearts of the people
are filled with schemes to do wrong’’), but similar thoughts were proba-
bly on their minds.
But consequences applied too harshly by leaders can have as demoti-
vating an effect as lack of consequences. Rehoboam, son of Solomon
and successor to him on the throne, obviously did not possess his
father’s wisdom or judgment. This is the man who said, ‘‘My father
made your yoke heavy; I will make it even heavier. My father scourged
you with whips; I will scourge you with scorpions.’’ (2 Chron. 10) The
people understandably rebelled against a ‘‘CEO’’ who began his reign
with such a declaration of unreasonable harshness.
Another example of harsh consequences is that of three men—
Korah, Dathan, and Abiram—who dared to challenge Moses’ authority.
They felt that Moses had set himself too far above the rest of the people.
They also refused to come when Moses summoned them: ‘‘We will not
come! Isn’t it enough that you have brought us up out of a land flowing