Comments on: Leadership Fashion

By: Miki Saxon

Miki Saxon — Sun, 12 Jul 2009 18:27:50 +0000

Hi Scott, to a great extent ‘leadership’ is a vocabulary that you use to describe what you already did.

Pistons singlet and football shorts? Now that’s what I call leadership fashion!

By: Scott Middleton

Scott Middleton — Sun, 12 Jul 2009 06:12:29 +0000

Yeah, it is important to see that each and everything is just a tool or another lens to view a situation through. Taoism is just one of those tools.

(P.s. I started doing yoga and I love it! I stand out a bit with my Detroit Pistons singlet and football shorts though – haha!)

By: Miki Saxon

Miki Saxon — Sat, 11 Jul 2009 18:02:12 +0000

Hi Scott, thanks for a very insightful comment. You have touched on one of the great farces of the whole leadership movement. Leadership is what one does, or, as you put it, a symptom of the person’s thinking.

Your condensed description, “find yourself and the rest will just happen,” is right on. I say it differently, “know your MAP because everything you do flows from it,” But the meaning is the same.

I do, however, avoid bringing up Taoism. I’d hate to see the concept get tainted by “religion”—or anything that seems to be religion. It’s the difference between using Hatha Yoga for exercise and plunging into the rest.

By: Scott Middleton

Scott Middleton — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 21:55:06 +0000

I keep a copy of the Tao Te Ching on my bed side table, it is fantastic. I’d also recommend reading “The Tao of Pooh” to get a good understanding of Taoism, but more importantly a deep understanding of yourself.

Having just completed a University course titled “Leadership in Organisations” I’m a bit disenchanted by all these leadership theories. I found that almost everything in the textbook was really describing a ’symptom’ of someone that was truely in touch with themselves and what they wanted out of life. For example, the book described ‘creative leaders’ and that creative leaders recognise opportunities because they’re immersed in ideas amongst other things. Yes this describes what they do, but does it actually help a student of leadership?

I think not. It’s just describing a symptom of what happens when you’re in touch with yourself (and the Way :). All these leadership theories confuse people. Leadership, to me, can be condensed down to one sentence. Find yourself and the rest will just happen.