Have any of these geniuses ever actually accomplished anything in the real
world? You would think a few would-- just for PR value. Just to
convince us that someone, somewhere actually used these principles in a real
workplace with real problems and actually succeeded because of them.
Just to show us that some people care about whether or not people who preach
a lot of leadership actually know what they're doing, in the real world.
Come on-- do it! Just to prove-- and here's the most important thing--
that the examples given in these workshops and presentations are not
simplistic and unrealistic. In other words, nothing like the real
problems real leaders will face in a real world.
Not one.
Well.... if you include celebrities like football coaches and Oliver
North... But that sort of proves the point, doesn't it?
How wonderful it would be if you could run your company like a football
team? Your team accomplishes exactly what your individual players are
capable of accomplishing, and you get to credit yourself with some
abstraction called "leadership" that miraculously appropriates your players'
talents.
How wonderful if you are a successful athlete-- born with a gift-- and
people will pay to hear you talk about how you invented the gift, nurtured
it, developed it, with your hard work and determination. What you have
with these people is an attempt to cash in on their celebrity.
Maxwell gives Churchill as an example of a great leader. Why?
Because he stood up for democracy and human rights? No.
Because he defied the most efficient and powerful military machine in
Europe? No. Because he was determined to win. Well,
so was Hitler, and so was Custer, and Marc Antony, and Lee.
May 12, 2009
John Maxwell is at his most offensive when he tells you that the only way to
cultivate effective leadership in your church is... surprise! By buying
more and more John Maxwell books and video tapes. No-- wait-- even better!
By subscribing to his various leadership clubs so that you receive something in
the mail every month-- along with expensive ongoing subscriptions.
It is a tribute to Maxwell's charm, I guess, that he can get away with these
blatantly self-serving stratagems in front of an audience that has paid to hear
him speak! Wow. That is leadership!
It is even more wildly amazing that while telling this audience that leaders
can't be herded like cats because they think for themselves and ask critical
questions and think outside the box.... he insists they all need to buy his
tapes and books and videos, and they all nod obediently and scribble down the
names of the stuff they need to buy from John Maxwell to realize their
potential.
The real purpose of all this stuff? To make you feel entitled to your
position. To give you the illusion of authority and influence. To
convince you that you are really more necessary and more valuable than the
people who actually product use products and ideas but don't know how to suck up
to those in authority.
The results from all this "training"? Mission Statements that consist of a
platitudinous enunciation of the obvious, and Strategic Plans (a redundancy: a
"plan plan".
And I imagine that most of them probably do. They reach their
potential. Just as you will and I will.
John Maxwell does not take questions. Real world issues must not
intrude, because they introduce complexity that reveals the utter uselessness of
most of his "wisdom". John Maxwell does not take questions, but he
probably could-- because this audience does indeed look like sheep.
There is only one real
irrefutable law of leadership: Anyone who doesn't already have what it
takes to be a good leader will not know what it is they need in order to
become a good leader.
And the obvious corollary: anyone who already is a
good leader does not need leadership training and would be better off
spending this time productively... doing something. Like have a
sex change operation if you are a woman, because Maxwell doesn't ever refer
to a good leader as "she" or "her".
Here it is
-- in the simplest possible terms: all "leadership training"
sounds great in the workshop and works perfectly as long as you don't let
reality intrude. That's all there is to it. The minute you leave
the seminar and immerse yourself into the real world again you will find
that your problems are no simpler and the answers are no clearer.
And if you had weaknesses as a leader before the seminar, you will have the
same weaknesses afterwards. I guarantee that.
However, a considerable number of people make a
considerable amount of money trying to persuade middle managers and
executives otherwise.
Almost without exception, none of these "leaders"
have any real-world accomplishments: they are all preachers, essentially, or
what they used to call "snake-oil salesmen": glib speakers who charm and
amuse you and persuade you that you can purchase that glib goodness itself
and take it back to your place of employment and do magical things that you
could never have done otherwise.
Not only are
they unashamed of their lack of real world accomplishments -- they sometimes
seem to revel in it.
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© Bill Van Dyk
2009 All Rights Reserved
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