“Fallen leader” is an oxymoron not a goal; how many of our kids know that when they see the preponderance of leadership trivia being published by fired CEOs? Leaders do not fall; the “fallen” are the ones who call themselves leaders but aren’t. According to a LeadershipIQ.com study “… 31% of CEOs get fired for mismanaging change, 28% for ignoring customers, 27% for tolerating low performers, 23% for denying reality and 22% for too much talk and not enough action.” In other words, top execs fall because they did not understand leadership. Yet, top execs are put up to the next generation as success stories, heroes, or legends, people to learn from.

It is a fact of life that emerging business people look to current business people, and to the “king of the mountain” to learn acceptable work protocols. We have young people entering the workforce with the attitude that they are entitled to all kinds of counterproductive work ethics as a result of what is often modeled from business “leaders” – you have to pay me if I show up whether I put my heart into it or not; I can sue the company for huge amounts of money if it doesn’t treat me just right; white collar crime is a given; pretending ethics is good enough; getting more powerful in the organization means bad behavior is excusable; drug use is no big deal when it comes to climbing the corporate ladder; I deserve to be kept on the payroll when I am not performing because I have family obligations; the customer doesn’t need to know everything we do to cut costs and give them the right price; loyalty to a company – no way, this job is just a stepping stone to early retirement or a big early retirement bonus to name a few.

Instead of a million-dollar book deal to the fired CEOs, how about more book deals to those who are walking the talk and successfully fulfilling the promises of the organization. CEOs are at the top of the food chain but the most successful ones know that the leadership that keeps the company growing and thriving is a bottom up scenario.

Real leadership lives healthier oxymorons: servant leadership; straight talk, open secret, constant variable, silent scream, good grief, peacekeeper missle, virtual reality, bittersweet, loyal opposition.
If you don’t understand the sentence above, consider getting StrengthBank® leadership coaching from the “rising” not the “falling.” If you absolutely understand the foundational sense in the above oxymorons, please mentor in high schools with StrengthBank Inc.