Tag Archives: charisma
Presidential gibberish: Without clarity, there can be no real leadership
I believe all of us, regardless of our party affiliation, should be paying attention to these specifics, including the way he speaks, and doing our best to translate. For those of us with the inclination, comparing his assertions to facts can be illuminating. But perhaps more importantly, looking at his scattered speech and more scattered thoughts can give us insight into the scattered effects of his first days in office, and why his approval rating continues to dip (37% approve in the March 20th Gallup Poll).
Transformational #Trump: The Contradictions Behind the Mask
Taking Donald Trump seriously means looking behind the mask to the contradictions that make him both entertaining and dangerous as a leader. According to the Economist, “Mr Trump’s secret sauce has two spices. First, he has a genius for self-promotion, unmoored from reality (“I play to people’s fantasies. I call it truthful hyperbole,” he once […]
Entertaining Apocalypse: Bad Leadership at its Most Earnestly Tragically Horrible
Let me be the first to say that I agree — we’re in trouble. Just today, on a ride to the post office to get my mail, my friend and I discussed rising sea levels, the seemingly inevitable gradual destruction of croplands with climate change, failures in medicare treatment procedures, and the challenges to running […]
Odo’s Shapeshifter Leadership: A Practical Metaphor Behind a SciFi Myth
My marvelous, practical visionary of a brother sent me a literal definition of shapeshifter in an email recently, reminding me that I may have glossed over some aspects of the original myth in order to make my point about flexibility and transformation. After the definition, he noted — “I think I saw this on Star […]
Margaret Heffernan on the Dangers of Charismatic Leadership
I’ve just discovered Margaret Heffernan’s insightful summaries about organizational leadership, innovation and business practices. This article about the dangers of charismatic leadership punctures a few myths about our Western culture’s fascination with persuasive risk-takers. Visionaries can be wonderful — unless they become narcissistic and forget the purpose of leadership. She notes what a lot of […]
A call for embodied leadership: article published in Integral Leadership Review
My article, “Leadership is a Lived Story,” a call for supporting soul resilience as part of leadership development, was just published in the Integral Leadership Review! My core argument is this: Western cultural leadership norms are all about the individual’s achievement, charisma and identity. We tend to think of our performance as a reflection of […]
New Yorker’s Romney cartoon critique: “campaign spin” vs. authentic leadership
Romney’s believable when he says what he thinks we want to hear… over and over again. – and a different message every time! This cartoon, in addition to poking fun at the permanence of media (like a tattoo – there’s always a recording!) and Romney’s gaffes — the incorrect statistic about a shrinking navy, the […]
Bread and Circuses: Stabilizing Leadership or Seductive Distraction
Those of us who talk about leadership as charisma donʻt mean the kind of propoganda festivals that distract followers/citizens from the gaps in leadership. But these “Bread and Circus” events, designed to entertain and appease the masses and make a good impression, are part of a leaderʻs cultural charisma. Martin Rowsonʻs cartoon, pointing a finger […]
