I picked up this passage from an article in the NY Times. I think it is illustrative of several points:
“It was a staggering drop for a politician who had managed to hold onto power by squelching dissent and amassing strong support from the real estate and business communities, along with moderate Democrats and Black voters in New York City. He pitted lawmakers against one another and controlled the state’s programs, leading many to fear criticizing him and losing resources they wanted in their districts. His staff mimicked his style, often berating and misleading journalists, sometimes blocking damaging information from being published.”
I’m reminded of my advice to my staff on regional issues: “Friends come and go, but enemies you keep forever!” His style of leadership alienated many. The bullying and name calling, for instance, is never received well. And when he was “down for the count” over accusations of sexual misconduct of various sorts, no one came to his defense, not even his own party leadership. That is one point.
The other is that you should remember that the culture of an organization is set by the leader. How you behave will be mimicked by your subordinates. I imagine that many a phone call to someone started with, “Hello, I’m Joe/Sally XYZ and I work for Gov. Cuomo...,” thus striking fear into the hearts of many not wanting to be taken to task for not complying with whatever the request was going to be.
