Getting Away With It

The "it depends" answer turns on the leader's general character, reputation, and particular role in an organization. If your wandering eye is well known, and you don't make a big deal about family values, then you can get away with escapades.

That is why Bill Clinton was not censored by much of the American public, and why Silvio Berlusconi can get away with his adventures and his loose tongue. But if you present yourself as a person of family values and faithfulness -- as Edwards or Sanford did -- or if you opposed Clinton while doing the same thing yourself, a la Newt Gingrich, then your effectiveness as a leader is likely to be compromised.