On Tuesday, April 22, Invoice Owens, longtime govt producer of CBS’ 60 Minutes, introduced his resignation, citing a lack of editorial independence. Owens’ resignation got here amid a authorized dispute between President Donald Trump and CBS, and his exit strategy affords us a uncommon public glimpse into what it means to guide with integrity throughout a disaster.
Right here’s what we are able to study from Invoice Owens’ current resignation from 60 Minutes:
1. You may pull off a relaxed exit in a storm
After working at CBS for 37 years, Owens’ choice to not transfer ahead with the community displays his stance on reporting and serves as a robust response to mounting political stress. However, as a substitute of ruffling feathers, his exit message to workers targeted on his editorial rules {and professional} requirements, serving as a blueprint for learn how to depart a job with conviction and composure.
“Over the previous months, it has additionally grow to be clear that I might not be allowed to run the present as I’ve at all times run it. To make unbiased choices primarily based on what was proper for 60 Minutes, proper for the viewers,” Owens wrote in a memo despatched to 60 Minutes workers.
2. When your values are compromised, it’s time to stroll away
In a world the place longevity is usually mistaken for loyalty, Owens reminds us that moral management is outlined by figuring out when to say goodbye. He made his stance on journalistic integrity loud and clear. In his resignation, the media skilled fearlessly defended his editorial choices and made it clear that he may now not keep in his function at CBS, because it didn’t align along with his skilled values. “The present is simply too essential to the nation. It has to proceed, simply not with me as the manager producer,” he wrote in his exit memo.
The underside line is, Owens felt micromanaged by company and political stress and refused to toe the road. He made a troublesome choice to resign from a task that he beloved however that now not mirrored his values. He didn’t criticize the present or its crew; he simply left.
3. Your model is price greater than any paycheck
A testomony to Owens’ braveness and energy as a frontrunner is the overwhelming response from his colleagues, a lot of whom have labored alongside him for many years.
Owens’ resignation has garnered a wave of respect and reverence, with a current CBS News segment paying tribute to his 37-year profession, knowledge and editorial integrity. CBS Information president Wendy McMahon said that working with Owens “has been one of many nice privileges of my profession.” McMahon praised Owens and reiterated her own commitment to “standing behind what he stood for” and “making certain that the mission and the work stay [the] precedence.”
Owens’ actions when confronted with a tough choice reveal the reality about authentic leadership—when your office’s imaginative and prescient now not aligns together with your values, it’s time to make a transfer. Owens didn’t simply resign; he modeled what it appears to be like wish to stroll away with integrity.
Picture by Naypong Studio/Shutterstock
