Leader, who?

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The book spares the superheroes, but it’s the more normal ones that are under the scrutiny of its rifle scope...

Theory says that they are great people but reality paints a portrait rather contrasting. History books have left not the tiniest stone unturned in glorifying their lives, but upon delving further, an alternative point of view emerges, and slowly but steadily, creeps into the mind, tipping at the very idea of history dictated under authority.

The subject under scrutiny over here is dedicated to an idea often misunderstood, misjudged and misrepresented; the idea of a leader and the definition of leadership. To which Anthony F. Smith’s The Taboos of Leadership, is a groundbreaking endeavour – to say the least – for it treads, the ‘turned-stones’ and demystifies countless fables and myths surrounding leaders, and constructs a definition or maybe a character sketch of these great men in the most believable way that does not hesitate to call a spade, a spade. According to Larry Probst, CEO, Electronic Arts, it is perhaps “the most realistic book on leadership to date.”

They say that the merit of a book lies in the lingering effects that it leaves behind in the reader’s mind, akin to achieving short spells of nirvana; of having discovered the most fundamental truth, the truth that fathoms an understanding that ventures beyond horizons, but yet is as precise as a drilling tool, arming the reader with clear-cut insights. If picked up randomly off the shelf, books and thoughts on leadership dole out often repeated age-old recipes about true leaders and their ways. ‘A true leader is the one who cares more for his employees than for himself,’ or in an advertisement by a leading business newspaper that quoted, “Leaders don’t force people to follow. They invite them on a journey.” Great piece of copy indeed, but where is the substance? Instead, what The Taboos of Leadership talks about is the “Painful, touchy, intimate, difficult-todiscuss, and politically incorrect taboos of leadership. By holding them (leaders) up to the light, judging them for good or bad, exposing their myths, and revealing their underlying truths.” Jack Welch laid off employees by thousands after taking over GeneralElectric (GE). We all know the stuff Steve Jobs is made of, and the flamboyant ways of Richards Branson; yet all we do is put them on a pedestal and worship them, not caring for the very quality that puts them there and us in a sea of unrecognisable faces? For, as Smith says in his book, “Taboos are issues or ideas that are too painful, embarrassing, threatening, or complicated to talk about openly.”

On a conclusive note, Anthony Smith’s unorthodox treatise on leadership is a refreshing one and is a tale that needs to seep through beyond boardrooms and management circles. A bit indulging at times, owing to his tacit understanding of the subject, The Taboos of Leadership explicitly explores ten areas of a leader that have rarely been explored. After all, a leader is a human and when has our breed ever been the perfect lot.

Shashank Shekhar

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Source : IIPM Editorial, 2008

An IIPM and Professor Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist) Initiative

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