Convictions put spotlight on need for change.

• Author: Linsky, Marty
• Position: LINSKY ON LEADERSHIP

With the June 15 conviction of Sal DiMasi on one count of conspiracy, two counts of mail fraud, three counts of wire fraud and one count of extortion, Massachusetts has achieved the trifecta. The last three speakers of the Massachusetts House all have been convicted of felonies committed while in the speaker's chair.

Massachusetts is not alone.

In the past year or so, indictments and convictions of sitting legislators, some presiding, have occurred in Alabama, Alaska, New York, Pennsylvania and Tennessee. In Pennsylvania, the criminal conspiracy resulted in the convictions of a former speaker and former chair of the House Republican Campaign Committee. In New York, it was the former Senate majority leader. In Alabama, it was four senators--two Democrats, a Republican and an independent.

What's going on here?

I have more than a passing interest in understanding the Massachusetts situation. I served three terms in the Massachusetts House during my formative years, and the place and the process are both close to my heart.

The convictions nationwide, however, suggest a pattern that may tell us that, in at least some legislatures, there is a more systemic problem.

From a leadership perspective, making meaning out of the Massachusetts trifecta and the indictments and convictions in other states is important. The interpretation will drive what remedies, if any, are implemented. At its essence, exercising leadership involves three core steps: observation, interpretation and intervention.

Observation involves collecting the objective data, in this case the indictments and convictions.

Interpretation is the tricky part. Everyone creates his or her own view of how to make sense of these straightforward facts. What story do they tell?

We usually are committed to our own interpretation of reality. As my 98-year-old mother says, "That's my story, and I'm sticking to it." We are influenced in making our interpretations by whatever lens we look through, by our backgrounds, our ideology, by the role we play in the story. The interpretation is critical because any intervention to address the situation will inevitably be based on an interpretation, a theory of the case.

This business of interpretation is a leadership opportunity. Human beings and organizations will ordinarily try to make interpretations of reality, especially in particularly difficult situations, with explanations that have three characteristics:

* They point to the failures of individuals.

*...