As most of you have heard, the governor of Illinois, Rod Blagojevich, was arrested on fraud and corruption charges. While it is shocking in some ways, it isn’t necessarily unheard of in the state of Illinois. Four of their last six governors have been arrested for some crime or another.

While I completely disagree with what Blagojevich has done, there is something that I find more shocking. I was listening to “All Things Considered” on NPR last week and they had an interview with Pat Quinn, the lieutenant governor of Illinois. During that interview, he mentioned that the last time he had a meaningful conversation of more than a couple words was August 2, 2007. Yes, you heard that correctly. The governor and lieutenant governor haven’t spoken in nearly a year and a half. No wonder he is calling for his resignation or impeachment. I’d like to point out that I don’t think they’ve ever communicated or got along well – before the primaries in Illinois, the governor and lieutenant governor run separately, and then are put on the same ticket for the general election. Thus, you end up with the possibility of getting stuck with two people who don’t like or won’t talk to each other.

An organization cannot be effective unless there is free and open communication. How can an organization set expectations and goals, develop a culture, deliver on processes, and provide leadership if the guy at the top won’t talk to anyone? Blagojevich, through his isolation and ability to pretty much piss off everyone around, including the entire Illinois congress, has shown exactly how not to foster good communication in an organization.

Communication matters. Actually, it more than matters – it is critical to the success of an organization. Nothing will get done properly, efficiently, nor effectively if communication is lacking or non-existent. Of course, I would be remiss if I didn’t also state that the type of communication also matters. Bribery, extortion and political trade-offs don’t really count as effective communication. That lesson was apparently never learned by Blagojevich.