Leadership BS by Jeffery Pfeffer

The book, Leadership BS: Fixing Workplaces and Careers One Truth at a Time, by Jeffery Pfeffer describes in detail the inauthentic culture of leadership consulting. The bar for entrance into this group is low.  The information provided by these leadership consultants is often aspirational but of little practical use.  Leaders must be inauthentic to be successful. They must get along with people they do not like. They must act confident when they are not. 

He also points to the altered reality of successful business leaders who pen books. The picture they paint is an idealized one that does not mesh with the actual reality of what happened in the company according to those that worked there. People want to use well crafted myths as guiding principals for leadership rather than embrace the messy reality that exists. The higher a position a leader reaches the fewer consequences for bad behavior.  

A significant majority of workplaces are toxic environments with leaders looking out for their own self interest at the expense of the company and the employees that work there. The author suggests that workers also proceed with the same clear eyed view that the company does not owe them at all for their past accomplishments but only for what they produce now and their potential future productivity.  He paints a picture of corporate culture similar to the parallel universe in the Star Trek episode: Mirror Mirror. 

Mirror Mirror - 2 min. 

If you want feel good inspiration this is not the book for you.  If you want a sober reality check on the culture of corporations and institutions of higher learning then this is the book for you. 

Leadership BS - Google Talk  - 55 minutes

Leadership BS - Stanford University - 77 minutes