The High Cost of Bad Leadership

We know that bad leadership costs institutions, but recent tallies of the US dollar costs to Pennsylvania State University for the Jerry Sandusky child sexual abuse scandal are just now becoming clear. The Associated Press added up the settlement totals and fines, concluding that the amount is around a quarter billion dollars and rising (well, US$237 million, to be exact). Minus the US$30 million paid by insurance still leaves something north of US$200 million that the school is having to fork out from operations and reserves.While the definitive case study on Penn State awaits writing, what we already know is that one bad actor's misdeeds were compounded by numerous examples of weak and corrupt leadership. And all of this at a staggering cost in human and financial damage. What a study in value subtracted.