Punky leaders always sink

Gene Mage

Have you every bought a wooden boat? The inspection process involves both art and science, as a wary buyer tries to discover the rot that often hides just beneath a shiny coat of paint. The only way to find the mushy “punk” below the surface is to pierce the hull with a sharp pointed awl. Below the neat exterior, one often finds air pockets filled with a few stray wood fibers. We call those boards “punky”, since they look great on the outside, but are worthless on the inside.

Tennis legend Andre Agassi once said, “Image is everything.” When it comes to leadership, image certainly does matter. What matters even more, however, is the substance that resides below the surface. Far too often, even the slightest puncture of a carefully starched and pressed exterior reveals serious character flaws. Anybody can look the part. Few can actually live up to outward appearances.

Where do you spend your time? Do you focus on becoming someone others would be proud to follow, or becoming someone who looks like a leader? You do not need character or competence to be promoted. In fact, you can rise ever higher in an organization upon the right looks, smooth speech, and calculated avoidance of responsibility.

I call these approaches “survival skills”. Corporate managers learn early on in their careers that survival skills and business skills are often two different matters. We would like to believe that people matriculate up through the hierarchy based upon their excellent communications skills, teamwork, and proven business results. The horrible truth is that people can, and do, beat the system.

When shopping for a used wooden boat, you can try to beat the system too. If you take a punky boat out on the water, you risk your life and the lives of your passengers. All the “oohs” and “ahhs” from admiring onlookers on the dock are cold comfort when seawater begins seeping through disintegrating seams.

Punky people who attain positions of leadership inevitably sink. They sink when events force them to make real decisions, and lacking sound judgment, they blow the call. They sink when those below see through the façade and lose respect for the leader. The seawater of truth eventually penetrates even the most carefully crafted image. You can count on it; punky leaders will eventually make a big, costly mistake, with ramifications far beyond themselves. They not only put themselves at risk; they endanger the careers of those around them.

Does the public image you project reflect who you really are? When adversity punctures your shiny exterior, are you solid and sturdy, able to withstand the blow? Who are you really, when nobody is looking, and nobody will know?

Great leaders are solid all the way through. That congruence of inner and outer self is the very definition of integrity. When we say something lacks “structural integrity”, we are saying that while it may look good on the outside, it will not “hold up” under the weight when put to the test.

Another word that describes world-changing leaders, such as Gandhi or Martin Luther King, is “authenticity”. Authentic people embrace truth, speak truth, and live truth. Authentic people accept the awful challenge to first embody what they would dare to teach others.

Why does the idea of authenticity frighten us so? We are afraid to reveal who we really are to a watching world. We are scared to admit that our planks are getting kind of rotten. We cannot imagine trading in the praise of others for an honest appraisal. Maybe we will not pass the inspection. So we hide and “fake it” until life forces us to be real.

It takes courage to admit weakness. It takes guts to look ourselves squarely in the eye and accept what we see. It takes strength to drop the masks and be ourselves. Fellow leader, are you willing to make that courageous choice?

For more ideas on becoming “Free to Lead” from Leadership Development Author and Speaker Gene C. Mage, visit www.makingitwork.com.