It seems the world is awash in scams, those attempts to steal from all of us. Couched in nice words like spam, these are attempts to destroy you. Likewise, there are scam leaders who would do the same, only worse.
In 1978, the scam by the so-called pastor, Jim Warren Jones slaughtered more than 900 people including over 300 children. He told his followers, couched in religion that he would lead them to utopia and convinced them to kill (poison) themselves.
Leaders take on a mantel of leadership by proclaiming themselves to be prophets, pastors, and even leaders. However, stating to be a leader does not make one a leader. As Christians have been told for eons and from Matthew 7:15: “Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly are ravening wolves. Wherefore by their fruits, ye shall know them.”
False leaders present themselves constantly. If you follow me and do thus-and-so, I will reward you. This is not normal product marketing by credible organizations of all sizes, these are the deliberate criminal attempts by wolves to destroy their targets, even to the point of suicide.
Beyond Outright Criminals
Even more difficult to detect and defend oneself against than criminal spammers are legitimate people in positions of authority. These can include the office bully, fellow employees and management, as well as elected officials and government employees and even family members and acquittances. This is a long list of those who actively work against constituents and people they know or who can be influenced to commit figurative suicide.
Sales 101 teaches that when trying to convince people to follow your lead, it is not the best idea to call them derogatory names. It continues to amaze this successful sales executive how many talk down to those they seek to persuade, almost like your dumb and I am smart thinking.
Meeting the Test of Actual Leadership
This quote is attributed to General Douglas MacArthur, “A true leader has the confidence to stand alone, the courage to make tough decisions, and the compassion to listen to the needs of others. He does not set out to be a leader, but becomes one by the equality of his actions and the integrity of his intent.” This pundit would like to add that during the World War II period, significantly large numbers of women also rose to the leadership challenges MacArthur espoused.
How many self proclaimed leaders we see in our daily life live by MacArthur’s code? Not many during my long life, I am afraid.
BS Detector
There is not much we can do about some exalted individuals. We must obey laws and organizational policies, or else there may be consequences. We should activate our leadership radar aka BS detector.
There are many false prophets we can choose not to follow. Those who do not bring out our best are not servant leaders they are self-servicing aggrandizers. Do not drink their Kool-Aid. When you see those on the media mouthing out crap, advocating violence or worse, failing to condemn the condemnable, cancel them! If you get cancelled, celebrate the liberation. Finally, the ole saying, “If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is” or no free lunch when a Santa Claus politician is loose.
The worst thing that can happen to these losers is the loss of ‘likes’ and lack of followers. That way they cannot lead lemmings over their figurative cliff. Scammers come from all walks of life, not just online. See this class of Bozos for who they are and reject the clown car they are driving.
How fine tuned is your leadership radar?
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The author’s credentials in this field are available on his LinkedIn page. Moreover, Dr. Shemwell is the coauthor of the 2023 book, “Smart Manufacturing: Integrating Transformational Technologies for Competitiveness and Sustainability.” His focus is on Operational Technologies.
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“People fail to get along because they fear each other; they fear each other because they don’t know each other; they don’t know each other because they have not communicated with each other.” (Martin Luther King speech at Cornell College, 1962). For more information on Cross Cultural Engagement, check out our Cross-Cultural Serious Game. You can contact this author as well.
For more details regarding climate change models, check out Bjorn Lomborg and his book, False Alarm: How Climate Change Panic Costs Us Trillions, Hurts the Poor, and Fails to Fix the Planet.
Regarding the economics of Climate Change, check out our blog, Crippling Green.
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