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[ CAREER GUIDANCE ]
Compassionate leaders strive to recognize their employees’ achievements as much as possible. They ensure people feel valued and not neglected. They are tenacious in finding resources for their employees. Compassionate leaders also seek opportunities for team members to grow their skills and become fulfilled. They coach and mentor their employees.
Agent James Oliver――who was part of the team that brought down Capone――wrote Irey, “Few men can look back upon achievements comparable to yours. Fewer still can do so with the satisfying realization that they gave full credit to all members of their organization who had a part in those achievements.”
Agent Willie Powell told Irey, “I have always been conscious of your willingness to reach back down the ladder and lend a helping hand. Your thoughtfulness, your bigness of heart and mind, your benevolence, and those similar characteristics so often lacking in men of your business caliber, have been clearly demonstrated many times, in many ways.”9
Possibly the most touching expression of Irey’s endearing compassion came from a letter signed by six members of Irey’s secretary pool. Collectively they said, “Not one of us can recall a day when you weren’t always willing to lend a helping hand; nor can we recall that you have ever been anything but our smiling Mr. Irey.”
Collaboration
Rarely can significant goals be accomplished without the assistance, expertise and support of others. It is not often that one has the luxury to complete missions in a vacuum without regarding the consequences of actions on other stakeholders. Simply put, it is essential to work together to get things done and navigate through the complexities of life.
Collaborative leaders seek common goals and mutually beneficial outcomes. They are profoundly aware of the force multiplying effect when people with complimentary talents work together. They also value others’ opinions.
On January 24, 1940, the U.S. Congress memorialized a testament to Irey’s collaborative leadership into the Congressional Record. As chief coordinator of all Treasury Department law enforcement (Bureau of Narcotics, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, Coast Guard, Customs, IRS-CI, Secret Service), Irey did something rather novel and organized the country into coordination districts and arranged to hold regular meetings with supervisory officers from all the various law enforcement agencies. The Congressional Record reads:
“ The coordination of effort put into effect by Mr. Irey is not a theoretical or imaginary type of assistance which exists only on paper, but a practical, workable, and very real type of cooperation which works against the criminal from several different angles. This coordination worked so well during 1939 that the Treasury enforcement activities were responsible for commitment to Federal prisons of 64.3 percent of the total number of persons committed during the year.”
U.S. Treasury Secretary John Snyder told Irey in a retirement recognition letter, “The Treasury Enforcement Agencies have compiled an enviable record and it is in very large measure a direct result of your untiring efforts, particularly your insistence on the need for close cooperation among the various agencies.”10
Prior to Irey’s collaborative efforts, the various Treasury enforcement agencies regularly engaged in turf battles and did not share information with each other. But Irey was so well-respected and admired he was able to foster a culture of mutual respect and common goals even amongst some big egos. This may have been his greatest leadership accomplishment.
Be a collaborative leader and reap the rewards of synergy.
Conclusion
The Six C’s are not a summary of things to do, but what to be. Betting on being a successful leader without regarding the Six C’s is like betting red on an all-black roulette wheel——it is a foolish bet. It presents a risk of mediocrity, failure and, more concerning, devolving into a “bad boss,” making subordinates miserable.
Striving to be a leader that embraces the Six C’s can not only drive your leadership success but also make your leadership journey incredibly satisfying. Unlike his contemporary, Hoover, Irey is rather forgotten in history. But Irey passed knowing that he enriched the lives of all those he led. As one of Irey’s senior leaders put it, “The Unit IRS-CI carries and will jealously safeguard the enduring stamp of your character and integrity.”11
Today at IRS-CI, the legacy of Elmer Irey is still very much alive in the zeal and skill craft of their agents who are still renowned as the best financial crime investigators, The Giant Killers.
Paul Camacho, CAMS, retired special agent in charge, IRS Criminal Investigation; member of the board of directors, The Mob Museum
1 Time, February 4, 1940.
2 Life Magazine, September 2, 1946.
3 Letter from FDR to Elmer Irey, 1942.
4 Letter from Alf Oftedal dated August 14, 1946.
5 Letter from Tom Henry to Elmer Irey, August 15, 1946.
6 Letter from Stephen Spingarn to Elmer Irey, August 21, 1946.
7 John C. Maxwell, The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership: Follow Them and People Will Follow You, (Thomas Nelson, 1998).
8 Letter from Clifton Mack to Elmer Irey, August 12, 1946.
9 Letter from Willie Powell to Elmer Irey, August 15, 1946.
10 Letter from John Synder to Elmer Irey, August 16, 1946.
11 Letter from Agent E.C. Palmer to Elmer Irey, August 15, 1946.
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