Regular reports about the US administration raise concerns about the chaotic nature of decision making in the inner circle. What about nepotism?
Advanced societies are often distinguished by their level of professionalism. This often means working according to established rules and procedures, adhering to a code of conduct, and being guided by the goals and objectives of the activity rather than personal preferences.
Thus, we associate being guided by familial and societal obligations as representing a lower level of professional development. In traditional societies, as head of a family, you would be expected to find a job for that lazy brother-in-law in your organisation. Look at all the trouble Choi Soon-sil in South Korea brought to her country because she used her friendship with former President Park Geun-hye to get her daughter admitted to a prestigious university. Choi is now in jail and the president lost her job.
The Trumps have introduced family values into the US administration. First Daughter Ivanka, an unpaid adviser to the President, recently represented her country at a meeting of female business leaders in Berlin. Ms. Trump has an office, with staff, focusing on issues concerning women and children.
Her husband, the First Son-in-Law Jared Kushner also has an office in the White House and is considered the most powerful person in the cabal. At 36, he is seen as a strategist with responsibilities that range from ushering in West Asia peace to making the federal bureaucracy more efficient. More power to him, so he can achieve these two seemingly impossible goals!
Kushner’s family business now run by his sister was busy recently promoting US real estate development to the Chinese, reminding them that investing $500,000 (about ₹3.25 crore) and more can put them on a fast track to citizenship by US law, which the Kushners can facilitate. The Chinese, quick to recognize the value of good family connections, listened to them carefully.
First Sons Eric and Donald Trump now look after the Trump family business and are busy travelling the world accompanied by US Secret Service personnel trying to find hotel and golf club deals on which they can stick the Trump name for a substantial fee.
While nepotism seems to be accepted in family-owned enterprises, it attracts approbation in government and publicly-held firms. President Trump must instead have been inspired by Adam Bellow’s book In Praise of Nepotism (2003). Bellow argues that there is nothing wrong with nepotism, we need more of it, and it is a way to transmit values across generations. History is full of it and professionalism be dammed.
So let us institute two principles that will allow you to practice nepotism while satisfying the professionals’ criticism. One, let the relative selected satisfy the minimum qualifications for the position. (Accepting this principle will enable you to define the minimum qualifications appropriately!) Secondly, let the relative in at the entry level and work her way up the organisation. Thus, she gets a chance to ‘prove’ herself! After all, if the Kennedys, Bushes, Clintons, Gores, and now the Trumps practice it, traditional values are getting the support they need.
(The writer is a professor at Suffolk University, Boston. The article first appeared in The Hindu BusinessLine.)