The frazzle of boundaries and the fray of leadership go together. The more the stage takes over, the less known the “character” and “role” a leader can play to be effective. Surprisingly, “surprise” is less possible when everyone thinks they know the script, is writing the script, believes themselves in the script.
The sanctity of the locker room—“an oxymoron” Steve Kerr called it—is a microcosm of these problems.
But then transparency as a solution has always been a myth. Hear all, see all, know all—feel entitled to all—means you trust in nothing, count faith at zero. All of us as journalists, all of us commentators, all looking to see how we look as we play the role of being—what exactly?—role players. We spin the spin being spun at us so our reports and comments and performances “land.” (Part of what made the punch so awful to watch is how real it was.).
To conspire is to trust, to triple down with grim intensity a form of knee-jerk faith.
And then . . . surprise:
To discuss what went on and what didn’t could possibly change opinions and I am not here to change opinions. I am here to acknowledge my mistake and what I did wrong
Green, a villain noble (or savvy?) enough to say this reveals complexity at the heart of his human being. A human being who should lose his job? Maybe. But someone who nevertheless found new text and a spot above, or outside, the drama of all against all.
And to say, “No comment” and “Nobody’s business but ours” insists on a back wall to the theater just as, “We'll see. Things will play out. There is no predicting anything," reminds us that the drama of healing is uncertain, does not operate by the same playbook of developing a brand or running for office.
Kerr, the leader who said these things, offered a contemporary distinction between stage and audience, why gossip and graffiti are no replacement for tragedy watched together. Spectacle is not always edifying or cathartic but when it is, a curtain is involved.
Once upon a time leaders of merit (scoundrels too) could hide behind this. Now defining it well is a badge of character and authority.