Modern Leadership

One Man's Observations

We are entering into a crisis of leadership in this country and, if there is any single thing that should alarm the populace, it is that fact. In government, we can see it at all levels and that same lack of leadership can be found almost everywhere you look. I have written before about the frightening lack of competence almost everywhere but it starts with leadership. There are very few people, in comparison to past generations, who know how to set the tone, be the example, lay out the vision, and teach others how to be successful. To be sure, there are those who advertise themselves as leaders, writing books and giving lectures on the subject but there are very few that possess the actual qualities that make a great leader.

In the modern age, authentic leadership has been lost in a world where the powers that be value degrees on the walls and conformity above all else. Our world once valued independent thinking, responsible reactions, decision making, and positive role models. There is always hope that it can be recaptured but we can easily see, almost anywhere you look, that leadership has been lost to a world of posturing and carefully crafted messages. It would seem that there is no longer a desire to truly foster a more vibrant tomorrow. Corporate “leadership” and our politicians no longer seek others that can raise the bar of expectations. They are more interested in those that never rock the boat and have a great propensity for being able to “blow smoke” up the asses of everyone above them. The problem is that decades of constant blowing smoke and not rocking the boat have left us with a leadership group, at the ground level, that can no longer truly exemplify competence much less teach it. Their claim to leadership lies in saying the right things to the right people not doing the right things for the right reasons. Too many lack the ability to teach or explain why things are done but they are proficient at posturing and self promotion.

We have accepted glossy imaging and flowery words as substitutes for true leadership and overall competence. We have heaped admiration and respect of corporate leaders and managers that long ago stopped worrying about the people around them. When I first started in the business world, my mentors were all about how well they could develop the people around them. You were considered a leader if you could not only generate positive outcomes but develop teams that would drive those same outcomes if you were removed from the picture. That was the goal – for you to move beyond that current role and for everything to continue seamlessly without you there. That is not to say that people still don’t advance but they don’t do it while looking over their shoulders in pride. They do it saying all the right things to all the right people while the standards of expectation slide lower and lower. Things do carry on but, as we can all see, not according to the same standards or benchmarks.

It is, perhaps, hard to pinpoint when this transformation in our society occurred but I would submit that our new approach to “leadership” started when we started watching CEOs and corporate officers having ridiculous compensation packages offered to them. It seemed like the leadership candidates were being asked,”Can you take my company and run it in the ground?”. Then, the contracts were signed, all the right words were said, all of the glossy photographs were published, and the high powered CEO’s and CFO’s would indeed run the company into the ground, while being given extremely lucrative separation packages that rivaled the sickening amounts of money and perks that they had already pocketed on their way while “setting a course of success” for the company.

Those that had a front row seat to the festivities or just watched it unfold in the business pages of their favorite newspaper (when they actually reported the news), just shook their heads in amazement. What we didn’t realize is that every time a big corporation found a “hired gun” for their top jobs, they were bringing in additional layers of incompetence below them. They hired the folks that had made them look good in the past. They did not have to know anything about the industries they were coming into or have any intention of learning anything about them. They were brought on for their “past expertise” and the ability to make their benefactor feel secure and safe. Finally, they were there to share in those golden parachutes days and wonderful separation packages.

Unfortunately, all of the money in industry was sucked out of the lower tiers of management to be given to these folks that seemed to repeatedly reveal themselves to either be totally inept, dishonest, or completely immersed in a world they really know nothing about. There was something else happening, too. Those that used to stay loyal to a company, learn the ropes the hard way, and become that “home grown talent” slowly became obsolete. Everyone seemed to be a recruit from somewhere else. “Home grown” disappeared and so did the knowledge and competence those individuals had brought with them at one time. It became painfully obvious that “blowing smoke”, “tooting you own horn”, and being a master of power point presentations was much more important than true competency and personnel development.

Now we find ourselves in a world where there are fewer stories of CEO’s flaming out in brilliant fire balls of failure but also a greatly reduced number of companies. Decades of forced bankruptcies and painful acquisitions reduced the overall career paths and truly removed “career ladders” from the company creeds. Oh, they still talk about it. They still include the flowery language and notes of inspiration in their human resource material but, like the living wage their entry level managers once made, those ladders have truly disappeared. This has led to an unmotivated group at the bottom rungs of what used to be a career ladder, fumbling through a world where the corporations no longer expect them to inspire, direct, teach, or motivate. Their every action and thought is dictated from above and whatever leadership abilities they might have had are being wasted every day.

It is something to ponder the next time you find yourself shaking your head at the lack of true competence that you encounter almost every day. There is a very good chance that there is little reason for the person you are interacting with to be better. There is an even better chance that the blank expression you see in their faces is the same blank expression that you will find in their superiors. When the big corporations get to the point where they have cornered the market in their respective games, they get to define customer service and competence……..

Only if and when we can re-start an economy driven by small and medium sized businesses will we see this change. There is no incentive for the mega corporations to foster true leadership or drive overall competence. The merry go round at the top will continue and the rest will suffer. This is not a whine for equality or wealth redistribution but it is a fervent hope that ladders to success can be re-established for those that actually want to work and have the ability to become the leaders of tomorrow.

On Monday, I will recap some of my own leadership journey with a tip of my proverbial hat to those that showed me the way.