Cliche #7 - Principles that hurt

Frank's management cliche #7

"A manager's principles are not shown when they hurt others, but when they hurt themselves"
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Explanation:

Most managers profess to not tolerating unprofessional or unethical behavior.  They will swiftly take disciplinary action on people they catch breaking the rules.  These decisions obviously impact the perpetrator and others adversely, but what happens when the adverse impact is on the manager themselves?  Will the manager still take the same swift and decisive action?  If it puts their own reputation, or income, in jeopardy, will the manager turn a blind eye or give second and third chances?  Here are a few examples:

1. The division "rainmaker" is caught submitting inflated expense reports.
2. The programmer that wrote the code for the company's best product is sexually harassing and making inappropriate advances to their direct reports.
3. The technical guru is repeatedly showing up for work hung over and sometimes still under the influence.
4. The account manager for the biggest customer, who love him, is discovered watching pornography in his cubicle on the company laptop.
5. The best technician, with by far the most product knowledge, initiates and takes part in a fight on the factory floor.

In all of the examples above, disciplinary action is probably needed.  In each case the employee involved is very important to the business and their removal will make the boss's job much more difficult.  Will the boss find a way to overlook the transgression, or address it but in a much severe way than they would for another employee? 

If the manager takes the pain and treats the star employee as any other employee, it will show that this really is a principle that they take seriously.  They believe the principle is more important than the next month's profit, or an uncomfortable conversation with their boss, or ultimately less money in their pocket.

What examples of this have you experienced in your career, or witnessed in other managers.  Have you seen a manager fall short in this area.  Leave a comment with your story.
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