Management Perspectives

MYTH 1: Our leaders are good at what they do
Since the turn of the century, we have learned that our leaders have illegally avoided taxes, lied about vehicular emissions, rigged interest rates, evaded taxes, laundered drug money, presided over an offshore banking system bigger than anyone thought possible, forced good companies into closure, and destroyed pension funds as they themselves grew wealthier. Collectively, they oversaw an unprecedented destruction of wealth and the collapse of the financial system. They watched as life savings placed into investment funds set up by leaders of unimpeachable integrity turned out to be Ponzi schemes. They sold off reserves of gold to compensate for these exercises in corporate greed, while never once convicting any banker. Our spiritual and charity leaders covered up abuse. Our politicians have cheated us, started ruinously expensive unpopular wars on the basis of false information, and were taken completely by surprise by the electoral outcomes. More CEOs are now being forced out of office for ethical lapse than for any other reason. Leaders of the automotive industry have been imprisoned. Global entertainment leaders have faced multiple allegations of harassment and abuse. Britain’s leading broadcaster falsely accused political figures of being child abusers, while allowing actual abusers to commit crimes on their premises. Meanwhile, sporting leaders have been caught cheating and doping. Human rights lawyers have been struck off for misconduct and dishonesty. In the US, many of the former President’s political advisors have been jailed and he has been subject to impeachment proceedings. From the Mossack Fonseca Panama Papers as well as the Paradise Papers revelations, it is estimated that $8.7 trillion, or eleven per cent, of global wealth resides in tax havens. Large corporations are routinely shielding money which deprived world governments of approximately $170 billion in tax revenue in 2016 alone (with the United States Treasury taking a $32 billion hit). This off-shore tax operation was surprising even to people who were aware of the problem. They thought the problem was a fraction of the individual on-shore economies. It turned out to be a multiple of it.

MYTH 2: Leadership education is done well
Partly, the reason why we are getting so many more instances of poor leadership is down to the emphasis our education places on individual performance. This is true of our entire education system, universities, and business schools. We reward people for individual achievement, obedience, and for getting the ‘right’ answers.

Most leaders know that there is not always a right answer, and even if there were, leadership’s job is not to predict it. The role of leadership is to prepare for all outcomes, not just one. So much of what we call leadership is tied up with the confidence of the leader. We all too easily confuse this with competence, but the two are not the same. Women, for instance will apply for a job only when they have the majority of the skills required. Men will apply with as few as thirty percent of the skills. The chart below shows the poor way we prepare our leaders for their role in the team.

MYTH 3: Leadership is for Leaders
This relentless focus on a single person as a leader is a result of the ego requirements we feel that leaders should have. That the leader is the most important person in the team is an archaic idea. They are not. The team is more important. Well-organised teams with a leadership culture are capable of getting a task done even if the leader is absent. The notion that leadership is for leaders only is deluded and dangerous. Everyone in a team could, and should, display a leadership attitude. Leadership is never something that is given to people, it is only ever taken. This is because it involves taking responsibility. This is a choice that only you can make. No one can force you to take it. However, circumstances can sometimes conspire to mean that there is no alternative. What makes people choose responsibility is a mystery. It goes right to the very heart of us. Close to it is the sense of duty people feel towards the team or the community. Those with little stake or commitment tend not to take responsibility by seeing it as ‘not my job’.

MYTH 4: Leadership is the same as management
This is perhaps the greatest myth of all. We teach management in all our business schools, but we do not teach leadership. We do not teach leaders to serve their community. Servant leadership is different than management. Servant leaders display the Four Hs—they are Happy, Hungry, Honest and Hard-working. Note, you cannot ‘do’ any of these things. You can only ‘be’ them. In this, lies an important truth about the difference between leadership and management. The latter is about what you do. The former, about what you are. You can try this yourself. Ask someone who is a parent to describe their parents. They will normally say that they were reassuring, constant, and loving. Then ask them to describe themselves as a parent. They will normally say they get their kids up in the morning, help them with their homework, and feed them. Can you see the difference between the two? The first descriptions can only go with the verb ‘to be’. The second ones can only go with the verb ‘to do’. Most managers get into their roles by having a to-do list. Leaders emerge by having a to-be list. They spend time every day exhibiting the qualities of a leader. They show. They don't tell. Showing what you are, by the way, is an infinite task. That is why the book is called The Infinite Leader. Management is the process of doing things right. Leadership is the character to do the right things. These two look similar. In reality, they could not be more different.

MYTH 5: Leadership is about being the smartest person in the room
Another problem that begins at school is that we think our leaders must be the most academically capable. They must know all of the right answers. Again, this is very different from what is required as a leader. Sometimes, there are no right answers. Or there are several. In any case, the leader’s job is definitely not to be the smartest person in the room. It is making everyone else feel that they are the smartest person in the room. The leader’s job is to harness the full potential of the entire team.