008 Do Our Leader Suck?

That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind. Here's an interesting question people have been asking me lately: do our leaders just plain suck? Let's get into it. I'm serious, this is a— it's really an interesting question, and it depends on what world you're talking about, right? Are we talking about the world of politics? A lot of people want to talk about it there. Are we talking about the business world? And a lot of people want to talk about it there. And there sure as hell are enough examples of leaders that suck in both of those worlds, right? I think also though, we have to go back and really look at what we, you know, how we're defining these terms. And that's important. I don't want to get lost in the philosophical weeds here, but I want to make sure we're on the same page because here at the Sensei Leader Movement, we have a pretty clear definition of what a leader is. A leader is someone with the ability to attract willing followers and the will to serve them, and you can't separate the two. I want to first talk about that emphasis on the word willing, right? For someone to be a genuine leader, people have to follow that person willingly through their own free choice. Now, does that mean that that person is necessarily good or benevolent or Any other things that we can attribute to what we might call our ideal leader? Well, no, not at all. I mean, people willingly follow crooks all the time. That's for sure. There's any number of scandals that can point that out. The people at Enron, many of the people at Enron knew what was going on. They knew about the accounting fraud. And they were willingly following marching orders from above. Why? Because a lot of people down the line were profiting from that. That's all. There was a lot of self-interest involved. We're gonna circle back to that. But anyway, that idea of willing is— that doesn't necessarily mean that the leader is benevolent or positive in any sense of the word. And then the will to serve them. So that's the other part of the equation, right? That you're truly serving the people who trust in your leadership. And that's where it can really get complicated because that's where that intersection of self-interest can really cause some trouble. Now, so that's the definition of a leader as opposed to the definition of a dictator. Now, a dictator is someone who imposes will by fear, force, or coercion. And, you know, sometimes you can say— here's the complication there— where people say, well, there are benevolent dictators. Well, I suppose I can, you know, I can understand that, that perspective. I don't necessarily agree with it because I think when you're denying someone their free will, that by itself is enough of an offense that throws you onto the wrong side of the equation there. But anyway, I have heard people that have come from countries where there are dictators and certain people consider them benevolent. Now it's also difficult looking totally from the inside of a situation like that. It's the same thing in a business. You might have someone who operates in a strict command and control mode and that company might be profitable. So that's why I've had to learn over time to really reserve my judgment until I get in and understand an organization's culture. But again, we have to get to the ultimate bottom line when we're talking about human-centric leadership, and that is, okay, maybe that company's profitable, or maybe that country is providing most of what its people want for the time being, but if in the end the results are destructive, or if along the way some of the means is that you're destroying people's lives, or in the extreme case in politics, obviously, murder. Genocide, things like that, in order to achieve those ends that most people might feel are comfortable or desirable. Well, that certainly doesn't make you a leader in our definition. That makes you a dictator, and probably a destructive one. So I guess I take issue with the connotation that there can be a benevolent dictator. Certainly not a long one. Certainly I've never seen a historic example of someone who really, really fits that mode that hasn't caused a lot of human wreckage along the way. Anyway, back to the core question: do our leaders suck? Well, the very fact that we think a leader sucks has a couple of layers to it. Now, it might be our perspective. It might just be that the, the particular leader isn't doing something we think they should do at the time. We disagree with them. We're not getting our own way. But we have participated in a process whereby we're following that person willingly. That's the rub, isn't it? And that can take on a lot of shapes. Now, with elected leaders, it's pretty obvious. We participate in the elected process, in the process of electing these leaders. Now, that's where it gets a little tricky. Just because my candidate didn't win doesn't mean your candidate sucks. It doesn't mean that person sucks as a leader. Keep going back to that definition. Is that person really operating with the interests of the people he or she serves, right? Is that person someone with the ability to attract willing followers and they're not resorting to fear, force, or coercion to get the job done? And that that group of willing followers might not include me. All right, but that's where a lot of the conflict comes in. You're just— because I'm right doesn't make you wrong, or vice versa. And sometimes we have to put our, we have to put our egos and our self-interests aside and really judge that leader fairly by the by the definition that we've outlined here. Now, in business, you still have that free will as well, right? You don't have to work there. If your boss is an asshole, you don't have to work for that person. And I can't emphasize that enough. If you think your boss is destructive, if you think your boss is a dictator, imposing will by fear, force, or coercion— we keep going back to those those same words, uh, then get out and don't allow that person to trample on you. Don't allow that person to trample on other people. Now, of course, that's easier said than done, isn't it? There are a lot of other factors, and again, this is why I've really learned to dial back my judgment. I have my opinions. I'm a very opinionated person, but you could give me any number of reasons why you'd be working for someone who is just a poor leader or in fact really more of a dictator than a leader. And some of them are extremely practical and extremely important. You know, you might not have the luxury of being able to pick up and leave and go someplace else. You have bills to pay, you have a mortgage to cover, right? Car payments. You got kids in school. You got family and friends around that you want to be close to. And all those things are rational reasons for why you might put up with a less-than-perfect situation at any given time. But they are all things that we should be— we should consider and be conscious of. And ultimately, in the workplace, of course, you know, if you were sitting down with me and you told me that you're working for someone who you don't believe is a good or constructive leader and you're not happy with that, then my only advice would be, well, start looking, right? You may not be able to leave now, but you should always be engaged in a process of of moving on to something better, more desirable situation. So do our leaders suck? Let's keep coming back to that point. Yeah, actually a lot of them do. Again, I might not always call them leaders, and here's where the differential might come in. Now, even when somebody's elected, now one of the big problems with defining these terms, and it all hinges, right, on how we define these terms. Well, too many people confuse leader with rank, title, or position authority, and that's not necessarily so, as we just talked about. Someone can be in a position of rank, hold a title, or be in a position of authority, uh, that got there through political intrigue, through murder in the worst cases, right? Um, any number of things just by cutting heads and stepping on people's necks. And so, and that happens in the workplace too, metaphorically of course. But you know, that's, that's, that happens, that happens. And, uh, I, I don't necessarily consider that personal leader. If they're not demonstrating that they can attract willing followers, if people aren't following them because they trust in their leadership, well, they're not truly fitting our definition of a leader. Too many people confuse leader with high performer, and that happens a lot, especially in the sales world, right? We've got to remove that definition. You might be a sales leader, okay, meaning statistically you're ahead of others, but that doesn't make you a leader in the sense that we're talking about it. You know, that ability to organize, to rally people, to bring them together, work for a common cause, that people trust in your example and you're providing a good example. These are all parts of it. Uh, you know, that, that's what a true leader— a leader is someone, you know, who has the ability to inspire, empower, and guide others, really, right? Someone who's willing to go first, someone who's willing to set an example, a positive example. These are all parts of it. We could go on and on for days on this. And finally, you know, that idea that a leader is— well, wait, I would put it this way. I say this all, you know, 7 times a week. Too many people confuse leader with someone who's just popular, attractive, or charismatic. And that's where it really becomes a problem in politics, isn't it? We— and we are all guilty of it— we elect people because they're attractive to us for any number of reasons, or because they fulfill our specific self-interests and we disregard the better interests or the greater interests, I should say, greater interests of the community or the people around us. And we're all guilty of it. Anybody who says they're not, well, I don't know, we'll have to have a couple of drinks of wine and talk about that because I'm sure, and I'll admit it too, there's times when I acted or I've voted for someone purely out of self-interest. And I, again, I believe that we all do that, at least from time to time. So anyway, if our leaders do suck in that regard, well, it's, it's whose blame, whose fault is it? It's really our fault, each of us as individuals. We've put those people there, or we willingly work for those people. It really is simple, if not easy. If we don't want leaders who suck, then we've got to stop supporting leaders who suck. We've got to put people in positions of authority who really fit our definition of leadership: someone with the ability to attract willing followers and the will to serve them. Now listen, ultimately there is one more thing you can do if you're not satisfied with your leaders, if you think your leaders suck. Step up to a leadership position yourself, right? And I repeat myself a million times a week on this point, but leadership has nothing to do with rank, title, or position of authority. Now these things can be very important, don't get me wrong, But you can lead from anywhere. You can lead by example. Leaders are people who see what needs doing and they do it. Leaders are people who are innovative, creative, and not afraid to share their ideas, right? And leaders are people who are self-directed, self-motivated, and really want to go the extra mile. And you don't need a rank, title, or position of authority to do that. But having said that, you know, there are plenty of opportunities to step up into positions of authority, into positions where you can really make a difference. Take a chance. A few years ago, I actually ran for Congress. It was a hopeless race, I have to admit that, but the experience was absolutely fantastic, and I learned an awful lot about people and an awful lot about myself in doing that. So I wouldn't— I might not do it again, but I wouldn't trade the experience for anything. It was really a valuable experience. Look, if your leaders suck, then ultimately the best thing you can do is step up and lead. Hey, thanks for listening. I hope you're enjoying these, these rants. And if you are, please share them, share them and subscribe, and let's help get the message around. And as always, if you'd like to learn more about the Sensei Leader movement, just come to thesenseileader.com. You can also connect with me on LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook. Or just email me, jim@thesenseileader.com. I'm Jim Bouchard, founder of the Sensei Leader Movement, and I look forward to visiting with you again soon.