America’s Leadership Bankruptcy

From our first breath, we all must answer to someone. Whether its family, supervisors, or elected officials, our lives are spent heavily impacted by those who lead us – and some are better than others. A recent US News poll shows that Americans are disappointed in their leadership in nearly every industry. From business to public service to health care, most Americans seem to believe the people in charge prioritize their own interests over any other.

This sentiment is not without cause, and it stems from a deficiency in the way leaders are selected. A growing trend can be observed: Institutions mistakenly support the rise of employees and officials who “toe the party line” for their own advancement rather than those who are rooted in principles and service. The former are hailed by senior leaders as being “team players” to mask the truth – that continuance of the status quo is preferable to true leadership.

But what characterizes true leadership? People. It’s how you take care of, advocate for, and enable the people you serve. A sincere prioritization of the members on your team is a prerequisite to any accomplishment of tasks and goals. This means being the legislator who will gladly be a squeaky wheel to get the district the tax cut or bill passed that it needs. This means being the manager who takes interest in employees on a personal level and accommodates requests, when possible, to ensure their families are supported. And this means being the official who’s willing to have a hard conversation with supervisors or party leaders when the operation is moving in the wrong direction. It must be clear to the team or constituency that their wellbeing is a...

I retired earlier this year. The last time I had a manager who actually knew how to manage anything was in the 1990s.

The article points out the problem of Courage, and I think that is a significant part of the problem. What’s the bottomline? What will HR think? What’s the current company protocol? Managers are afraid to manage because they might do something wrong. Support the team?? Oh, I don’t know about that ... I could get in trouble.

But also, I think companies have dropped the idea of training managers. They hire someone with an MBA and think that will do it. No. People with an MBA know how to put little numbers in little boxes. They can work a spreadsheet. But they generally cannot manage people, cannot organize an effort, they don’t understand the product or the corporate culture, and they are mostly interested in meeting quarterly goals that will earn THEM a bonus. No vision. No strategy. They have no time for that.

Lastly, companies decided a long time ago that Middle Management was a waste of money, so they hollowed it out. Well, there goes the career ladder for most of the staff. Your entry level position? You want to move up?? Well, there is no middle. The next step up for you would be regional vice president. You think you can get that post from your current entry-level job??? I don’t think so. NOTE: Good top-level managers who knew how to manage used to come out of the ranks of Middle Management. This is an additional reason why top-level managers are clueless about managing.

So the people at the bottom have no hope. No mentors. No reason to excel, The people at the top don’t know how to manage, and would be afraid to do so if they did know how.

I think a new economic model is coming in the next 10 years or so. This one isn’t working anymore. And I haven’t even mentioned what AI might do to a lot of BS cubicle jobs that serve no purpose at all.

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