The End of Leadership

February 20, 2012
According to Kellerman (Bad Leadership), lecturer in public leadership at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government, the “leadership industry” (her term for purported “schools of leadership” run by governments, educational institutions, and private businesses) continues to flourish, but with no apparent increase in the quality or quantity of leadership. In a response that seems geared toward her industry colleagues, Kellerman argues that the leadership industry must make four changes: end “leader-centrism”; transcend the situational specifics that lead to myopia; subject itself to critical analysis; and change with changing times. This vague prescription concludes 200 pages that detail the increasing loss of centralized power in governments, business, and institutions and the corresponding decline in people’s respect for and deference to leaders. The author argues that power has shifted from leaders to followers, and social media and the information age require more transparency and accountability from leaders. Kellerman also questions whether leadership can be taught, and, if so, whether corporate “leadership training” is what Plato or Machiavelli had in mind when envisioning the “Philosopher King” or “The Prince.” What type of leader the modern age requires is an interesting question that Kellerman flirts with, but never directly addresses, almost as if the book itself were subject to the directionless malaise it describes.

February 15, 2012
A highly critical assessment of the state of American leadership and the "leadership industry" that helps produce it. After 30 years in the leadership-training field, Kellerman (Public Leadership/Harvard Univ.; Leadership: Essential Selections on Power Authority, and Influence, 2010, etc.) writes, "we don't know if learning how to lead wisely and well can be taught." Yet the $50-billion leadership industry has exploded in recent decades and become "self-satisfied, self-perpetuating, and poorly policed," while producing scant evidence of success. Instead, many business and government leaders "seem inept or corrupt" and either unable or unwilling to lead. In this valuable book, she details vast societal changes that have demeaned and downgraded leaders and altered the relationship between leaders and followers. The Internet and other advances in communication technology brought more information, encouraged greater self-expression and expanded connection. With information available instantly to everyone, followers (citizens, employees, stockholders) learned of their leaders' faults and began questioning their authority. Information about priestly abuse, for example, has led to diminution in the Catholic Church's institutional power, and news of business scandals has prompted distrust of corporate leaders. At the same time, followers are demanding more, emboldened by the spread of democracy, the rhetoric of empowerment and the practice of participation. To keep pace with a networked, interdependent and transnational world in which leaders are weaker and followers stronger, the leadership industry must overcome its myopia, analyze itself critically and catch up with a rapidly changing society. Kellerman's honest and astute critique makes it clear that the gurus in her own field have work to do if they want to remain relevant.

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February 15, 2012
In recent years, it seems that reports of unethical leadership have become more frequent in the media, despite the increase in leadership training programs. As the title indicates, this book cautions about future breakdowns in the leadership systems if America fails to adapt current and future leadership development programs to changing conditions. Kellerman, an accomplished author on leadership topics, presents an alternative viewpoint on the leadership industry. She observes that the power and influence of corporate and political leaders have diminished during the last 40 years as the influence of followers and constituents has increased due to cultural and technological changes, including the spread of information by the media. She points out flaws in the traditional leadership assumptions and advocates a change in focus from leader-centrism to the inclusion of followership in leadership curricula. The book doesn't provide specific solutions but instead offers recommendations for reevaluating the assumptions of the leadership development industry so as to adapt to the changing environmentrecommendations that anyone involved with leadership development would be wise to consider.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2012, American Library Association.)