Stewardship, 2nd Edition

The Underbelly of Leadership

There is something in the way leaders define themselves that inevitably becomes self-congratulatory and overcontrolling. Successful leaders begin to believe that a key task is to re-create themselves down through the organization. To make their beliefs and actions reproducible. They begin to wonder, “How do I instill in others the same vision and behaviors that have worked for me?” At the moment, this question may seem to the leader like a sincere desire to be of service, but to an objective observer it has the stamp of self-interest.

People who cannot conceive happiness of their own accept a definition imposed upon them by others.

—Earl Shorris, Scenes from Corporate Life

This becomes clear when you read about ...