Has Leadership Become the Domain of Rogues and Scoundrels?

Has leadership become the Domain of Rogues and Scoundrels?
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Today, principled leadership has never been more crucial. And yet, it seems the more desperately we need quality leaders, the more society seems to lose its faith in its leaders. In politics, business, academia and the community—earnest leadership is at once urgently needed and widely derided. The world is more cynical and jaded than ever before—and leaders are on the receiving line of global frustration. As leaders increasingly become linked with alternative facts, petty gossip, narcissism, naked self-interest and corruption, respect for them continues to diminish. Today, the world needs more people like Winston Churchill, Ronald Reagan, Jack Welch, Nelson Mandela, Margaret Thatcher, Mother Theresa and Pierre Trudeau (I deliberately created an eclectic list precisely because good leadership transcends values and ideas).

In the 25 years that I have been an entrepreneur and a corporate leader of a technology firm, I have found a profound shift in workplace attitudes. Some of it is very positive, such as more people speaking truth to power, increased egalitarianism, and a greater acceptance of meritocracy in the workplace. These have helped fuel an increase in diversity, innovation and the desire to accommodate the needs of workers outside of their work and create balance. Offsetting the positive is an increasing trend toward inherent distrust and cynicism, loss of faith in leaders and a breakdown of loyalty on both sides. If leadership is the ability to inspire and enable others to achieve common goals—then cynicism is a deadly toxin. Mistrust of leaders as a group is now endemic and at levels that are perhaps unprecedented in human history.

More than substance - successful leaders today also need the right feel. People now demand authenticity in their leaders. Effective leaders cannot appear manufactured in any way. Many people, and especially millennials, will automatically tune out smooth or over prepared speakers… they just don’t seem real any more. Today, impromptu communication, harsh attacks and boldfaced lies can be perceived as more truthful than carefully crafted, well-rehearsed truth. Truth is determined less by facts and more by the perceived authenticity of the messenger.

For today’s workers, ‘corporate cheerleading’ seems like a hollow forced ritual. Employees would much rather hear (and trust) the ‘bad news’ rather than be smothered with a ‘façade of good news’. If there is one thing that turns off today’s millennials, it is a formula driven leadership approach – many simply refuse to respond to a prefabricated leadership caricature. They are far too street wise to be led this way.

Employees overwhelmingly seek truth, rawness and even vulnerability from their leaders. If leaders can’t naturally convey such traits, then precious few of their goals and messages will penetrate the hardened outer-shells of today’s workforce. ‘Authenticity’ has become so important that even a narcissistic, self-centered leader can break through their follower’s defenses – so long as they are seen as authentic and real.

Certainly, the relentless structural shifts in the economy and society have not been kind to leaders. In the past few decades, corporate leaders have gone from overseeing symbiotic relationships with long-term employees to securing transactional outputs from transient workers. The increasing wealth gap is both a symptom and a root cause of this shift. In 1989 the CEO’s of the largest American firms made 59 times the average worker, today they make approximately 271 times. Today, eight (8) white men have more wealth than half the planet—a full 3.5 billion people. It is unsurprising that workers believe leaders are there only to enrich themselves. There has been great damage done to the ‘vocation of leader’ by scoundrels, rogues, profiteers and crooks.

Politics is perhaps where leadership is most under assault. Recent elections have sent a clear message that many citizens just want to give the finger to the “establishment.” The first serious casualty of this current age is the death of any lingering sense that “we are all in this together.” Hardly anyone believes “we are all in this together” anymore. We have become tribal. Class, gender and race are becoming increasingly visible in society. Today, more and more people are following those who can give voice to their outrage and help to ‘settle the score.’ The notion of voting for good policy and strong ideas is becoming quaint. Our politics now is a zero-sum game where my group needs to gain power at the expense of your group.

My parents taught me the most valuable thing about being a leader--- and that is “to lead is to serve those who follow you.” All progress, all wealth creation, all shareholder value ultimately is created by workers who passionately, competently and faithfully execute the visions of strong leaders. Leaders that lose sight of this, believe it is all about themselves or feign real concern for their followers—will be found out and rejected. Ultimately, leadership is not about you.

We must not let the scoundrels and rogues define leadership for the rest of us. Wanted: Men and women with the courage of their convictions who are not afraid to be real. Apply within.

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