The Color of Leadership
The color of leadership…
Have you ever noticed that Barnes and Noble and Borders are just full of books on leadership lately? I mean really… we must have a real need for this stuff… really badly and I guess there is a market or maybe it's just that I started to pay attention.
I’ve been doing a little content analysis of these books and they seem to say a lot of the same things… “stick out, but not too far”… “treat others well but create urgency”… “discomfort is expected”… “lead from the front… and sometimes the back”… “embrace creative destruction” (my favorite) and so on. These books also come in all sizes… the little ones that remind me of kid’s versions of “The One Minute Manager”… remember that one? Or maybe it's just a bit like "Pat the Rabbit." Others are thick tombs with huge prices (these are by the academics who hope to score some bucks and get the book counted toward merit this year… sort of twofers) and then there are the “how to” manuals with the funny names and drawings done by the author’s five-year-old child… at least I hope that’s who did it. If not, someone paid too much for the design.
The prices vary but most are in the $19.95 to $24.95 range… except those that have the academic book look… then they jump to $60 or $80 or even $120 (the later was likely an ordering mistake) and the paper quality is a lot better… also, the jacket cover has a long resume and no picture… well, maybe there is a picture but it looks like the picture you would expect on an $80 book. The guy doesn’t seem to have any obvious tattoos. Colors vary… doesn’t seem to be a “color of leadership”… well, maybe there should be… in fact maybe that’s a great title…“The Color of Leadership.” I better start writing the thing before someone else does… maybe I get can it done before I leave town in three weeks… but I better do a search… hold on...
Well, I’ve been saved some hard work, I just Googled “The Color of Leadership” and now I know… it’s been done. Something called the Media Management Center has a publication with this title… and there is another Google entry on the “colors of leadership” which seems to be claimed by some kind of consulting group that wants you to “explore the leadership spectrum”… I give up… well, maybe I should check to see if they have trademarked the notion… if they have, I can focus on those memos I need to write before the next faculty meeting.
Have you ever noticed that Barnes and Noble and Borders are just full of books on leadership lately? I mean really… we must have a real need for this stuff… really badly and I guess there is a market or maybe it's just that I started to pay attention.
I’ve been doing a little content analysis of these books and they seem to say a lot of the same things… “stick out, but not too far”… “treat others well but create urgency”… “discomfort is expected”… “lead from the front… and sometimes the back”… “embrace creative destruction” (my favorite) and so on. These books also come in all sizes… the little ones that remind me of kid’s versions of “The One Minute Manager”… remember that one? Or maybe it's just a bit like "Pat the Rabbit." Others are thick tombs with huge prices (these are by the academics who hope to score some bucks and get the book counted toward merit this year… sort of twofers) and then there are the “how to” manuals with the funny names and drawings done by the author’s five-year-old child… at least I hope that’s who did it. If not, someone paid too much for the design.
The prices vary but most are in the $19.95 to $24.95 range… except those that have the academic book look… then they jump to $60 or $80 or even $120 (the later was likely an ordering mistake) and the paper quality is a lot better… also, the jacket cover has a long resume and no picture… well, maybe there is a picture but it looks like the picture you would expect on an $80 book. The guy doesn’t seem to have any obvious tattoos. Colors vary… doesn’t seem to be a “color of leadership”… well, maybe there should be… in fact maybe that’s a great title…“The Color of Leadership.” I better start writing the thing before someone else does… maybe I get can it done before I leave town in three weeks… but I better do a search… hold on...
Well, I’ve been saved some hard work, I just Googled “The Color of Leadership” and now I know… it’s been done. Something called the Media Management Center has a publication with this title… and there is another Google entry on the “colors of leadership” which seems to be claimed by some kind of consulting group that wants you to “explore the leadership spectrum”… I give up… well, maybe I should check to see if they have trademarked the notion… if they have, I can focus on those memos I need to write before the next faculty meeting.
posted by hsypher at 6:12 AM
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