Category Archives: Leadership

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The Leader You Don’t Want To Be: The Power Broker

Well, if you’ve been following along these past couple of days, it’s been an interesting ride as we’ve explored some of the most common models of bad leadership. To review, we’ve already discussed the poser leader and the prostitute leader. If you haven’t had a chance to read those yet, please take a look.

Today, we’re going to conclude this series on leaders you don’t want to be with a look into one of the most pervasive models of bad leadership – the power broker.

The Power Broker

Power brokers are probably the most common form of bad leadership for one simple reason – people in all eras of history have confused “leadership” with “power over others.” Power brokers are found just about anywhere and in any situation. Why? Because the major motivators of power brokers are fear and selfishness – probably the most common issues of the self that humans have to conquer in order to make themselves great – and many don’t.

The definition of a power broker according to the dictionary is a person who deliberately affects the distribution of political or economic power by exerting influence or by intrigue. Interesting…right? Power brokers now begin to take shape in our minds as anyone who wants things to go their way and will do just about anything to bend the situation in their direction.

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The Leader You Don’t Want To Be: The Prostitute

I got some good feedback on yesterday’s series starter about bad leadership models where we explored the mindset of the poser leader. If you haven’t had a chance, make sure to read up on one of the most prevailing leadership models you never want to become.

Today, we’re moving on in our series and covering a model that many of you, no doubt, have encountered in your experiences – the prostitute.

The Prostitute

Now, we all are familiar with the common definition of a prostitute as a person who engages in sexual activity for payment from another. But the word also carries the second definition in the dictionary as a person who misuses their talents or who sacrifices their self-respect for the sake of personal or financial gain. Now we’re getting the picture.

I still vividly recall the first time I ever visited the city of New Orleans. I was visiting a good friend who was kind enough to pick me up from the airport and take me on a tour of the city. I recall very well coming out of the airport and heading up the ramp onto the highway where we were greeted with no less than seven billboards advertising strip clubs with “barely legal” woman giving us the naked-shouldered, come hither stare. I was so struck by the audaciousness of this that I made a comment to my friend in the car to the effect of, “I knew about the French Quarter, but I didn’t know about the in-your-face advertising!” 

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The Leader You Don’t Want To Be: The Poser

Avoid these mistakes if you want to be respected

Lately it seems like everywhere I turn I hear a story from someone or see first-hand the effects of bad leadership. It’s truly an epidemic that’s reaching all areas of our society and I’d like to take a moment to identify some of the top models of bad leadership that I run into on a regular basis.

Drama-Masks-Blk-Wht-noborder

The Poser

A poser is a counterfeit leader. They are the leaders that feign their craft and act in ways that they believe others want. They are not authentic, and we know it. They want desperately to impress us, so they regularly trot out their “credentials” and “titles” in hopes that the language they use might give them some authority. The problem is, their energy is dissonant because they are playing a role and not being themselves. Have you had a run-in with a poser leader? I’m sure you have, (and I’d love to hear your stories in the comments below) but for now, I’ll give you an example from one of my experiences.

Awhile back I had the displeasure of addressing a poser leader at my children’s school. Schools are interesting places when it comes to leadership. Most school leaderships are administrative heavy and can easily get bogged down in the day-to-day operations, or as I like to refer to it, survival mode. This school is no different. But what brought me into the office for this meeting was simply the observation that things could be radically different if just a few weaknesses in the leaders were to become strengths – and they really needed some improvement too, because private school tuition is no laughing matter for these parents. 

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Penn State, Paterno, and Passing The Buck

I’ve been a casual sports fan most all of my life. And even though I don’t know the name of every team’s coach or every player on the field, I still know the name, Joe Paterno. In fact, as long as I’ve been alive he’s been the Head Coach of the Penn State Nittany Lions football program. He’s been such a fixture in the leadership of the Penn State athletic department that it seemed as though, at age 84, he was never going to retire. Of course, all that changed abruptly after the news broke of a sexual abuse scandal and subsequent cover-up that has been going on behind the closed doors of an athletic department whose motto is: “Success With Honor.”

Joe Paterno

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Foundational Leadership

I was recently driving by a local construction site and found myself enamored with the happenings. It looked as though the foundation had been poured and set for the building and the county inspector was giving the once-over to this completed phase of the project. He had his clipboard with a checklist and was sure to point out things that he wanted an account of from the site manager. Of course, without his approval, the project would not continue as planned and the necessary changes would have to be made in order to receive a passing grade. In that moment, I was grateful for the amount of time being taken to inspect the foundation of a building that was sure to become a support for a building that would serve the public (including me!). But it made me wonder, why don’t we take more time to inspect the foundation of those people around us that will be the “support” of our public?

Leaders are the support structures for our companies, organizations, governments, and families and we should be much more aware of what is going on underneath the surface if we are going to lead effectively.