Managing Leadership^®

Does it seem as though we are hearing a little less, lately, about supernaturally-gifted leaders marching victoriously across the business landscape? Not so long ago the modern leadership movement’s gurus reveled in the CEO/leaders they had coached, who they claimed as their close friends, and in the light of whose superlative examples they were proud to bask.

But this sort of hyperbole seem to have gone quiet, of late, hasn’t it?

And far from striding purposefully forward to lead us into an uncertain future, those “leaders” appear to have blundered into a most troubling one indeed. Is that a surprise? Moreover, is it a surprise that we, knowingly, on faith, or unwittingly, have been marched into it right along with them?

It only stands to reason that we would. Someone has to pay the consequences of their mistakes.

While they may have been taken down a peg or two, they certainly haven’t lost their sure-footedness – nor, even, much of their sense of purpose. Except that now their goal is Washington, and their aim is your money, in the form of tax-funded government beneficence, to save their hides.

Not leading with their jaws, exuding confidence in their invulnerability, but hat in hand, oozing sanctimonious concern over your welfare. Even, on occasion, bearing carefully rehearsed accusations against cruel fate for what has befallen us all (although certainly not defining it as our having been beset with such “leaders” as them).

Please take a few moments to read the following commentary on this topic. The first two are from the Becker-Posner Blog. They are quite concise for articles from this site, but clearly outline the relevant issues and the arguments made from them. Gary Becker makes the case against a bailout for the auto industry, and Richard Posner offers a qualified defense of such a move.

Next, please stop over to see how Wally Bock puts the issue in a broader context that offers additional important perspective on the matter; as well as on the question of if and how badly we – and not those responsible – will pay the consequences of their mistakes.

Finally, speaking of consequences, they are becoming increasingly complex and menacing for all concerned. Please see what John Phillips, author of The Word on Employment Law, has to tell us about this.

Is it a surprise that so much of the rhetorical excess about individual leadership seems to have been toned down recently? Could we not have been saved some of this trouble if these supposed “leaders” and their cheering section had been told to put a cork in it long ago?

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Today’s tips: Speaking of leadership in business, please stop over to see Miki Saxon’s take on the business of leadership.

Then, please also take a moment to visit Contrarian Thinking, which specializes in management in the public sector, and which recently took up the argument that there are no leaders, only good managers.

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Technorati Tags: leader, business, leadership, CEO, lead, Washington, government, confidence, Becker-Posner Blog, Gary Becker, auto, industry, Richard Posner, Wally Bock, John Phillips, The Word on Employment Law, individual leadership, Miki Saxon, Contrarian Thinking, management, public sector