Sagas of the Hero-Leaders

Managing Leadership opens with a discussion of what is wrong with the current approaches to organizational leadership promoted by educators, consultants, and the presumed “leaders” themselves. Among the problems is the tendency of such groups to cater to the need many of us feel to find the “secrets” of success as leaders, or the list of key characteristics needed to become one.

The observation has been made to me since that the notion of there being such a thing as a list of traits which is uniquely shared by “leaders” has been debunked by academic research. Not only is there no such list, but there is no obvious single characteristic that leaders must apparently have to be effective. Whenever one is seized upon by one theorist as essential, it is inevitably shown to not exist in other “leaders” universally acknowledged as effective. This conundrum of the modern leadership movement was discussed in the book, also.

But the quest continues. Evidence of it can be found everywhere, but today’s In the Lead column in the WSJ provides a good reminder. Generally, the item provides effective commentary on the inescapably juvenile quality of the self-biography genre of leadership books by self-identifying paragons simply by listing several of the book titles. The columnist takes the position that genuine biographies do a better job of dissecting the capabilities, characteristics, and legacies of “leaders.” It is possible that the rhetoric may be more restrained, but the fundamental error of imagining that there are leadership secrets to be learned remains. Consider the following quote, relayed in the cited item, from one of the biography subjects cited:

management is the art of absorbing a task in one lump from above, cutting it into smaller lumps and putting them down one level

This inanity, selected for special attention by both the biographer and the reviewer, was uttered by a person who, in the net, was genuinely effective - and in difficult times, to boot. Yet, not much for the rest of us to learn in this little nugget.

The moral? Stop looking; at least this way. Don’t look for lessons in others. Don’t even look for them in yourself; those who press you to do so are exploiting, cynically, another aspect of our insecurities about our ability to measure up. Look for lessons in how to manage in your work. Everything else about management and even leadership - everything - derives from the work. When it starts coming from you is when both you and the work start unravelling.

Consider this quote segment, also from today’s WSJ:

inattention compounded by carelessness exacerbated by self-aggrandizement

This comes from a San Diego sports writer, criticising a lame-headed performance by a particular player in the Chargers/Raiders football game this weekend. But it’s a pretty effective description of any manager who becomes too full of him- or herself. This player - and the team along with him - happened to catch a break in this instance. If you follow his example in your own work, don’t count on enjoying the same luck.