Accountable Leaders

CHAPTER 2Why Do We Not Have Better Leadership?

In his seminal book On Leadership, John Gardner shared an observation: “Why do we not have better leadership? The question is asked over and over. We complain, express our disappointment, often our outrage; but no answer emerges.”¹ This question is a familiar and recurring one. I’m sure you see it crop up repeatedly in the media in stories of political leaders or corporate executives embroiled in scandal, corruption, and wrongdoing. What I find interesting is that Gardner first raised this question in 1990. That was 30 years ago!

By chance, that happens to be the year I started my first company and began my journey to becoming a leadership adviser. The puzzling thing is that Gardner’s question is probably even more relevant today than it was back then. I wonder what he would have to say if he were around to witness today’s leadership? Consider the number of corporate scandals, the rampant sexual harassment cases that led to the #MeToo movement, the low state of employee engagement, the erosion of trust and confidence in senior leaders, and the political turmoil created by many world leaders. It has been an astonishing few years during which we have witnessed some dreadful leadership. An article in the Harvard Law School Forum on Corporate Governance cited more than 400 business executives and employees (including several prominent and high-profile CEOs) as being accused of misconduct over an 18-month period.² Four hundred. No, ...