PART DEUX: TRUE EMPERORS SHOULD ALWAYS BE NAKED ... AND HANG OUT WITH CIRCLES OF LOVING DETRACTORS

Observers of celebrities can move from natural skepticism to trust and followership. The celebrity leads through an assumed and artificial credibility. Observers become followers by buying into this credibility, essentially trusting a truth created and amplified by technology and made meaningful by an evolving brand, (whether well-managed or not), as the following crowd grows and sometimes even goes viral.

To varying degrees we all want to be celebrities because it means others now like us, are impressed by what we say (whether nonsense or not), do things for us when we tell them, affirm us, become our “friends”, don’t criticize or hurt us, and primarily allow us to exercise power over them. That is the bad news.

Because celebrity is a form of leadership it can become toxic. Celebrity in and of itself is not bad. We start with a neutral concept and by understanding it, attempt to deal with its realities. If leaders are defined as those with followers, then anyone with one or more followers will deal with some aspect of celebrity as we are using it. (Although we have met leaders who will make a moral cause out of denying this reality.)

Celebrity in this generic sense is going to happen to leaders with visibility whether we like it or not – but how do we keep it from getting toxic? Toxic celebrities are generally humorless about their own shortcomings, travel with followers (not loving detractors – read entourage), seek more celebrity, and constantly build their own brand. Their celebrity can turn into notoriety, when toxicity becomes public. However, these celebrity leaders may also remain effective (as they define it) or even become more effective in inappropriate ways.

We observed a celebrity once who was surrounded by about eight friends who traveled with him, and quite frankly, who ragged on him constantly. He stood up in front of crowds numbering in the tens of thousands every night and remained a regular human being. This celebrity had one of the more well-developed cores of humility yet seen.

The bottom line is that celebrity without community is toxic. “Community” in some sense provides accountability and prevents toxicity if understood properly. But, what kind of community? A “community” of mere followers, an “acquiescent” community, does not exercise accountability.

The only community that counts is a community of loving detractors.

Originally published on September 7, 2010

tags:

In Business, Leadership Tags celebrity, credibility, humility, leadership

LEVERAGE EVERYTHING

Each day has 24 hours – no more, no less. If you have defined your mO you know what your priorities are. If you don’t honor your priorities you won’t reach your mO. Peter Drucker used to say that a minimum of six straight hours of concentration were needed to generate anything worthwhile. Especially in the summers he would hole up in his home office and allegedly not venture out until at least six hours had passed. A rough draft would then move from his home in Claremont to Orlene, the most loyal secretary in the universe, who reigned at his campus office a short distance away. Rough drafts never left the hands of Orlene until they were cleaned up and Peter claimed to never let a rough draft out of his or Orlene’s sight. I tried to look at one once, and my supposedly good friend Orlene nearly perpetrated some Middle East justice on the hand that reached for the rough draft.

For any archivists or curators out there who think they have a Drucker rough draft, only two responses can be made – 1) it’s not authentic, or 2) you stole something that Peter did not intend for you to have. Every summer, Drucker knew what his “business was”... the summer project he had committed to. At the end of the summer we received the results.

That product could end up in numerous places, under various umbrellas. A few possibilities were his class lectures, magazine articles, HBR publications, chapters in a forthcoming book, and so on. When he took on a project all of its possibilities seemed to occur to him at once.

I watched this for a few years and decided it was a good idea.

If someone asks you to write a chapter for a festschrift or something else ostensibly sounding cool and scholarly (even tenurific), step away from the phone. Until you can conceive of at least three or four other uses for the project or variations on that product, hang up then say no, then turn the phone off.

So say you’re a blogger... unless each blogoid (somewhat similar to CNN’s factoids) has a future in your next lecture, book, article, anthology, newsletter, class assignment or Christmas letter, don’t write it.

This has the magical effect of turning 24 hours into 36.

Originally published September 6, 2010

tags:

In Business, Management Tags blogging, Drucker anecdotes, efficiency, leveraging,Peter Drucker

TRUE EMPERORS SHOULD ALWAYS BE NAKED ...

Leaders who metaphorically wear royal robes and query their followers might find that they were less clothed than they thought.

As soon as enough people give you enough compliments and you’re wielding more power than you’ve ever had in your life, it’s not that you become…arrogant…or become rude to people, but you get a false sense of your own importance and what you’ve accomplished. You actually think you’ve altered the course of history. Leonard0 DiCaprio[1]

Characterizing the leader as celebrity may sound like an odd take, but it fits. It was part of Drucker’s problem with charismatic leadership. All the time and in any public setting (physical, virtual or broadcasted), we are creating “celebrity”. It is a form of leadership that emerges from visibility and branding. A name becomes increasingly recognizable and a set of meanings is attached to it. There can then be a subtle shift, as a normal human being becomes a brand. Meaning becomes larger or different for the person involved. A famous author exercises leadership through ideas, a famous actress leverages great facial bone structure or a famous speaker communicates charismatically with a deep voice and theatrical gestures. In the broadest sense of leadership each leads and each faces the challenge of celebrity, even if only on a small scale.

Our beliefs and resulting behaviors are essential to who we are. Celebrity can alter circumstances or individuals outside our control, and create situations opposed to our personal wishes and beyond our maturity; this generates leadership actions with unintended consequences. Uncritical followers, attracted by the brand, ignore a host of warning signs.

A foundational indicator of toxic celebrity is a lack of accountability. If you watch the entertainment news of the day – surely a profitable exercise! – you may be familiar with the concept of “entourage”. It may not be a shock that these are people kept around for their very ability to say “yes” – to the leader’s every request (very little “vigorous fellowship” here). Leaders enthralled with celebrity are literally “in thrall” to the unholy freedom to do exactly whatever feels good at the moment. This is a dark side of celebrity according to DiCaprio. At the same time, in view of their special status, celebrities are placed under little pressure or responsibility for results. Those followers who are disappointed or hurt are also usually the ones who eventually bring down the celebrity once they discover their feet of clay.

Technology can amplify or alter meaning in surprising ways. At the most basic level a set of large speakers is necessary for a rock band to become celebrities. (There may be a few singers out there still functioning as celebrities without using electricity in some way, but we are not aware of them.) Television and the internet use technology to amplify meaning and propel individuals into recognition and expanding brands. Even schlolarly video conferencing appears to have this effect. Or, consider the impact of blogging ...

The phenomenon is not limited to Hollywood stars. Some leaders consciously leverage a personal brand to be more effective, giving little thought to the moral or ethical implications of their burgeoning celebrity. Many can be found eventually swinging in the wind, riding the wave of their fame in the salacious tabloid press at the logical end of this quest. These leaders represent a fair and balanced cross section of politicians, corporate executives and preachers.

Being both naked and aware of it may not be such a bad thing if you want to be emperor.

[stay tuned for the sequel coming soon – A circle of loving detractors]

[1]Oregonian, 11-7-2004.

Originally published September 6, 2010

tags:

In Business, Leadership, Peter Drucker Tags branding, celebrity, DiCaprio,emperor's new clothes, entourage, Peter Drucker

EVERY MILLENNIAL LEADER NEEDS A CRISIS

If you want to lead you need a transformative crisis. This from Bill George and Andrew Maclean who write[1] about transformative leadership passages. (By the way, the lack of one may contribute to what holds many “gap leaders” in the nonperformance zone. They simply never had the tears or scars required to move on.) But the price is high.

Chris Lowney claims that “an early crisis creates self-scrutiny and learning agility” and points to the Jesuit examen as an example. Lowney characterizes the examen as a crucible event, and as the author of a book about heroic leadership, makes a good point.

“My husband and I heard one morning that our beautiful 19-year-old Juliet had been killed in an automobile accident,” said Marilyn Carlson Nelson. How many business leaders lead because they want to make life better for others? Yet this is what Nelson steered toward in her grief. “I decided to make whatever time I had left meaningful so that time that Juliet didn't have would be well spent”, Nelson concluded.

“I'd rather have a bad meeting than a bad life” said Doug Baker of Ecolab, after laying a hard truth at the feet of his boss. This hard truth could have cost many their jobs and Baker decided to move past his "me" issues. Some would call this a CLC (“career-limiting conversation). Baker survived to become Ecolab’s CEO because his “me” paradigm shifted.

Jeff Immelt at GE had to complete an annus horribilis to move on. (BTW, little-known fact, Jack Welch talked to Peter Drucker for three hours the day before he appointed Immelt to take over at GE.)

Only when leaders stop focusing on their personal ego needs are they able to develop other leaders. Every leader reaches a point where she chooses to become powerful or to pour out her life for others. This is not only about the nonprofit sector but bidness too.

I have become suspicious of emerging, so-called “gap leaders” claiming to be on the other side of their gap, who can’t tell me a crucible story.

Giving birth seems to have this kind of effect on some women leaders I know. Another friend saw half his helicopter squadron die in Vietnam. My (formerly slightly goofy yet lovable) eldest son survived Iraq and now hangs out in Afghanistan as an army staff sergeant working with special forces. A current student confronts a profoundly life-changing possibility as he wrestles with cancer. These folks have leadership stories to tell and I’ll listen.

Trust no one ... without a crucible experience. (Millenials, listen up.)

Originally published September 5, 2010

[1] Leader to Leader, No. 45 Summer 2007

tags:

In Crisis, Disaster, Leadership, Peter Drucker Tags Bill George, crucible, Ecolab,examen, gap leaders, General Motors, Jack Welch, Jeff Immelt, Jesuit, millenial, Peter Drucker