books tools that can help their clients . It also offers a compendium of research on topics relating to presence , effective communication , and self-awareness . I do think the accumulation of citations , and Cuddy ’ s habit of backing up even tangential observations by referencing various studies , can start to wear on the reader . Perhaps this is understandable , given that this is Cuddy ’ s first book and she ’ s an academic . Still , it ’ s a promising , enlightening , and rewarding addition to the literature of leadership .
The Contrarian
Jeffrey Pfeffer ’ s previous bestseller , Power : Why Some People Have It — and Others Don ’ t ( HarperBusiness ), landed in 2010 like an icy blast amid the soft-hued descriptions that had recently become prevalent of how power is used and manifested in organizations . Thus did the Stanford Graduate School of Business professor introduce himself to the wider public as a fierce contrarian and realist in the Machiavellian mode . Leadership BS : Fixing Workplaces and Careers One Truth at a Time is sure to fortify this reputation .
Pfeffer ’ s target in the new book is “ the leadership industry ” — the authors , speakers , trainers , and consultants who have , in his view , offered myths and fables that aim to inspire people but that have little to do with how leadership is actually practiced . He also strongly objects to leaders who collaborate on books or leadership development programs ( here ’ s looking at you , Jack Welch !) that whitewash their many faults and skim over the terrible compromises they ’ ve made in pursuit of success . Such an approach has set people up to feel disillusioned when leaders in their company fail to exhibit socially popular traits , or when they themselves are penalized or sidelined for trying to function as “ servant leaders .”
Pfeffer takes particularly sharp aim at values-laden advocacy that urges would-be leaders to practice modesty , authenticity , truth telling , trust building , and putting others first . Although these might be highly moral traits , they are extremely rare among leaders , many of whom are narcissistic , put their own interests first , mask their true intentions , and practice situational ethics . It ’ s no coincidence that there are far more players than saints at the top of organization charts . Pfeffer offers specific examples of a few leaders who do engage in inclusive behaviors that benefit their organization in the long term , such as Alison Davis-Blake , former dean of the Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan , and Ken Thiry , CEO of DaVita , a kidney dialysis provider . But such cases are , in his view , exceptions in a world where those who are lionized for success can be dangerous to know .
Although Pfeffer ’ s pessimism is relentless , Leadership BS offers a useful and necessary corrective to leadership conversations that tend to become untethered to reality in their anticipation of a nirvana where people in power will all practice a kind of leadership Zen . And it is indeed noteworthy , as Pfeffer points out , that despite increasing resources devoted to leadership training and a strong market for leadership literature meant to motivate and inspire , people in real organizations report unprecedented levels of dissatisfaction and even misery , and are highly critical of the behavior of their bosses .
The spread of highly demanding , even invasive , technologies is no doubt partly to blame . But many organizational cultures have in effect become toxic , which is an indicator of purely human failure .
Pfeffer is not shy about citing examples . In our collective zeal to inspire , we cause people to bring unrealistic expectations to their jobs and so set them up either to fail or to become corrosively cynical . He is especially scathing about the recent vogue for “ authentic leadership ,” worrying that by urging people to share their true responses rather than strategically assessing situations and adapting their behavior accordingly , we are telling them fairy stories about what is expected at leadership levels .
Pfeffer ’ s disdain for the role of storytelling as opposed to rigorous scientific investigation of how people actually lead suggests he has little tolerance for approaches that view leadership as an art or interpretive methods that seek to find a moral in the kind of narratives that people find helpful in their daily lives . To Pfeffer , storytelling is essentially a con . The reality that stories have been an artifact throughout human history and make up a formative cultural expression cuts little ice with this coldeyed observer . Yet his unrelenting skepticism is expressed with wit , and his style is graceful and lively .
Pfeffer intends his work to be provocative , and he succeeds significantly . And as the other authors of this year ’ s crop of useful volumes point out , there is a big gap between much leadership advice — prescriptive , exhortatory , and aspirational — and how people actually experience their leaders . If we can ’ t muster up the presence of mind to recognize this state of affairs , we have little chance of learning better leadership . supported by EUROBAK
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