Leadership Results

Chapter 2The new context for leadership

Do you still believe in leadership gurus?

For the first time in its history, a large organisation experienced what the CEO and his executive team described as an intractable challenge. The executive failed, time and time again, to resolve this unprecedented crisis. In desperation, they invited a world renowned leadership consultant to help them.

In the town hall meeting, everyone in the organisation gathered to hear what the consultant had to say, but to their surprise, he asked them just one simple question.

‘Can you guess what I am going to say?'

‘No,' they replied, puzzled.

‘Then I can't teach you something that you don't already know,' the consultant replied enigmatically. And with that, he left without further comment. Everyone was disappointed, to say the least, and their problem remained unsolved.

Many weeks passed, but the problem remained unsolved. The executive deliberated and sent a second invitation to the consultant and in preparation for his arrival, the executive coached all managers and employees to this time say ‘YES' in response to the consultant's question.

Once again, the consultant arrived and once again everyone from the organisation gathered to hear his counsel. As before, he asked,

‘Can you guess what I'm going to say?'

The executive looked at the crowd and all at once they shouted ‘YES!'

Unflinchingly, the consultant responded ‘Then what use is there for me to tell you anything?' And again, he left without ...