How to Not Suck as a Leader

Last updated on: January 22, 2009 at 9:56 am by JBW

How to Not Suck as a Leader 2009-01-22T09:56:12-05:00 JBW

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This Blog’s tag line says “Connecting Business Life with Spiritual Life.” Sometimes I stick very close to business issues, and other times I veer happily on to little side roads, because there really is more to life than business, right? But, today we are going to get back to business.

If business is to remain a central theme, then sooner or later we are going to have to say something about leadership. I figured it’s about time that Shrinking the Camel post a good word or two on that fine subject, drawing from my vast exeperiences as a business executive and former career-ladder-climber. Plus there is a huge market for this subject, and if I keep using the word LEADERSHIP in this posting, it should increase traffic to my site.

Except, it occurs to me that leadership guru and motivational speaker John Maxwell has single-handedly conquered the subject of Leadership to the point, well, I honestly wonder if there’s anything left to say? Maxwell’s marketing machine has found so many clever ways to slice and dice and list and repackage his inerrant leadership advice that I am just about left speechless.

Apparently Mr. Maxwell has discovered that there is an infinitely unfulfilled market of poor suckers like you and me who feel like we need to become better leaders. This presumably is because we are:

Unfulfilled
Underpaid
Under-utilized
Under-acknowledged
Just plain tired of being bossed around all the time.

See how I used a Maxwellian-inspired list of simplistic bullet points to create impact just now? I couldn’t get them all to begin with the letter “U,” but I came very close. Hey, it’s not easy to cram a lifetime’s worth of advice and experience into five bullet points that all start with the same letter! You’ve got to give him credit for that.

I realized that if I wanted to say something original about leadership, then I must get very creative and dig down deep in order to come up with something worthy, some hook that hasn’t already been covered by Mr. Maxwell.

So here you go. How about this for a new slant on Leadership:

“Some of you will suck as leaders.“

Has that been said before? Really, I know that won’t sell many books, but maybe it’s time to help people face the facts and perhaps save them a lot of time and money spent on more leadership books and seminars. Not everyone will make it as leaders. Not everyone is cut out for it, no matter how many books you read. Not everyone has what it takes.

“But, Brad,” you ask, “How will I know if I suck as a leader?” Well, friend, you have come to the right place. I will spare you all the leadership hype and give it to you straight. Come back to Shrinking the Camel soon as we kick off the “How to Not Suck as a Leader” series by Bradley J Moore. I am looking forward to working with you.

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Sometimes God Sneaks Up On You (My Vacation with God, Part 4)

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