Leadership Bs by Jeffrey Pfeffer

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Opinion

When I first picked up the book “Leadership BS” by Jeffrey Pfeffer, I thought to myself “here we go again, another generic management book”. As I started to read it, it drew me in as I can relate with a lot of the topics discussed. Since I was 16 years old I have been employed in various jobs. Throughout my years of employment, I have met an array of managers - some that are influential and motivational, while others demotivational and a nuisance. Throughout reading Pfeffer’s book, I could picture myself in many of the situations he talks about and why leadership is so important within a workplace. This gave me an interesting outlook on his world of leadership and its impact on the workplace environment. Pfeffer emphasizes that there is no clear definition of authentic leadership. Based off my research, authentic leadership has a variety of definitions. Pfeffer claims there are over 148 million results from a Google search when typing in “leadership”. Since there is no clear definition of leadership, he feels that workplaces around the globe are in a leadership crisis and the abundance of money that goes towards leadership training can be used more effectively by having certain criteria to create more effective leaders.

Pfeffer believes that the modern world of leadership has become all to involved in lay preaching. By telling people inspiring stories about heroic leaders and exceptional organizations. By doing so, allows individuals who hear these stories feel good and temporarily feel uplifted while not changing much of what happens at many workplaces. This process has not been helpful in creating authentic leadership within many organizations because we have allowed this to go on as a norm. Recent studies have even shown that 35% of employees would forgo a pay raise just to have their superior manager fired (Pfeffer, 2015, P.13). This shows that a large chunk of employees around the globe who are unsatisfied with their work environment. The reason I bring this fact up is because of my experiences of working in the retail industry. I’m sure many of others have had work experiences where their immediate boss is not properly trained. With a leadership style like that, these middle-aged managers are still stuck working retail. They do not possess the skills to lead an educated group and to motivate them towards a common goal. Pfeffer estimates that the companies in the US market spend approximately $14-$50 billion of dollars a year on leadership training (Pfeffer, 2015, P.12). In regards to retail managers, many of them go to training seminars and are taught tactics they already know. Skills that they need to improve on or develop are not actually focused on during these seminars. That is the main point of Pfeffer’s book. He believes that many organizational managers are not judged on the right characteristics when it comes to leading a group of followers and this causes the bad apple theory where the wrong people are picked to be leaders.

One example I felt that was very powerful for my understanding of the leadership industry was the progress the medical industry that has been made throughout the years. When it comes to hygiene, there are many issues that could arise within a hospital. Patients could be infected as well as doctors, nurses or staff. When it came to fixing this problem, scientific research and methods were taken to resolve this issue. Researchers figured out the problem, tested their hypothesis on how to fix this, did some tests and eventually came up with a solution. The similar approach should be taken when it comes to leadership because there are no barriers to entry within the leadership industry. There is no credibility such as a Masters in Leadership, so there are many people out there giving advice and feel good speeches claiming they are professional advisors but not having any credibility. So, I feel like what Pfeffer wants for the leadership industry is very beneficial. He gives an honest opinion of what the leadership industry needs to do to be successful globally.

By giving a blunt and honest opinion about the leadership industry, Pfeffer has shaken up a lot of his peers. From what I believe I think he is the first to voice his opinion while many others shy away due to the scrutiny they may receive. This is one of Pfeffer’s greatest strengths, in truly believing what he preaches, it is evident from the imagery and transparency he creates in his book. Another strength of his would be the implementation of a scientific approach as to how to effectively create/choose a leader. He lists desirable traits such as being persuasive, articulate, attractive, and even interesting as something leaders should have. The basis of his book is around the key traits he believes leaders should possess those being modesty, authenticity, telling the truth, being trusted, taking care of others and lastly taking care of yourself.

In terms of weaknesses, I think that Pfeffer’s efforts to establish a common standard for leaders is a bit of a reach. Leadership is such a diverse topic and can apply to many different situations. Pfeffer doesn’t narrow in on the specifics on how to achieve effective leadership and motivation within the work environment. This book may have been too critical on how to build better and more humane organizations while making the organization more effective. Some parts of the book felt like Pfeffer was just rambling about his own opinion on reality and the book kind of hints that narcissism may be a sought-after characteristic for leadership. Which I can’t say agree or disagree with. I’m very neutral on that topic.

Evidence and Arguments

Chapter 3 of “Leadership BS” talks about authentic leadership and its influence on followers. Pfeffer goes on about how people should not always be true to their real, inner selves, in part because others can see through their attempts at deception. People also prefer to relate to those who share their real feelings and thoughts. This is true because look at Donald Trump for example. We know he is not fit to lead a country but he still managed to become President of the United States of America. He employs an authentic leadership style because he can adapt to his environment and tells the people what they want to hear. Many middle-class Americans can relate to what he must say and are persuaded by him. If you look at his effect on the Stock Markets of the United States, you can see he has created a strong following through his use of leadership tactics such as authenticity to the people. Another tactic he employs is the use of adaptive leadership such as social proof. He has created a herding behavior through his Tweets that he makes daily. By herding behavior, I mean, when he tweets that he is going to decrease business taxes in a certain industry. The stocks of that industry seem to shoot up minutes after his tweets. The ability to create a herd of followers is not easy but Donald Trump has built a strong following through social proof and authenticity.