How NOT to Lead

Introduction

I've learned something too: selling out is sweet because, when you sell it out, you get to make a lot of money; you don't have to hang out with a bunch of poor losers like you guys.

—Eric Cartman, South Park

Okay, let me start by saying I am not a sellout. At least I don't think I am. I hope I'm not, anyway. I don’t do “on poz” keyboard red team guy work anymore, so I guess maybe I have achieved peak poser status, but I am no sellout. I still love the in‐the‐trenches work for cyber. Anyway, I love that quote from Cartman about selling out and making money. I think that's what you get from most leadership and self‐help books; there are hundreds of armchair experts waving their hands, talking about gaining insight from walking on hot coals and playing on people's emotions rather than their logic. I've read many of those books and watched their YouTube videos for research, and I assert that most of them are preying on people's fear of failure and desire to do something that matters. It's the same crap as “fitness” industry influencers claiming that miracle supplements of ground‐up tree bark and wombat spit will make us as ripped as they are if we pay them for the privilege of ingesting junk.

The truth is, it's been decades since most swamis and gurus did the actual work they preach to you about. They made their one shot, cashed in, and can testify to their “vast” knowledge of the current problem. Even though they stopped doing the work, they lecture us about what ...