Anonymous Quotes
Praise in public; rebuke in private.
When politicians and appointees deviate from this principle, they end up with a much more difficult management problem. One of the complaints of elected politicians often is that the executive is not exercising accountability, but if it is exercised publicly, the morale effect is devastating.
Management Motto in the Government and the Military
Sourced by: Eigen's Political and Historical Quotations
Ironically it was the old Chinese culture of the Emperors where public official mistakes were generally paid for with the official’s life. However, there is a tendency the world over for the public to demand someone to be punished or fired. Often the easiest way for a politician with administrative responsibility to blunt that responsibility is to fire some subordinates or demote or otherwise punish them. In Taiwan they have a demerit system. The leader must take the responsibility for the failure. Many politicians (and business executives) observe that there are thousands of subordinates and that they cannot be held responsible for the errors that any of them make. While the do not want the responsibility, they are the first to claim the credit if anything goes right. If an employee should be fired, then do so, but as this quotation observes to meet out discipline in response to criticism is reprehensible.
While he was referring to Civil Servants, the principle is generally true for all workers.
