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James Strock

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Bureaucracy is the Enemy

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bureaucracy_office_print_1719
Public Domain | Wikimedia Commons

You think about it when you contact the often ironically named “customer service” section of a major corporation.

You think about it while you’re on apparently ceaseless hold at a government agency “help line”—and afterward, when you speak with an employee who knows next to nothing and cares even less.

You think about it when you’re seeking a fair shake from any large enterprise.

You’re living it 24-7 when you’re striving to change an inert organizational culture.

All paths point to the same end: Bureaucracy is the Enemy.

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Who is McKinsey Serving?

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McKinsey & Co. is a premier management consultancy, serving many of the world’s greatest corporations, as well as government agencies and other enterprises.

In recent months, long simmering controversies about McKinsey’s ethical compass have begun to boil over into public view. As summarized in Fortune, critics have alleged “conflicts of interest in McKinsey’s bankruptcy practice; raise[d] questions about its role in advising politically repressive regimes; and prob[ed] its ties to South African business leaders who were subsequently accused of corruption.”

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21st Century Leaders List

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malala yousafzai in scarf on http://servetoleadgrp.wpengine.com

Malala Yousafzai. UK Department for International Development [CC 2.0] via Wikimedia Commons.

Who are the 21st century leaders?

Where can we find them?

The premise–stated or unstated–is that there’s a leadership gap today.

Who can argue against the spectacular failures of leadership in large institutions? They range from the White House and Congress (whether in the hands of the Democrats or Republicans); to Wall Street and back around to Main Street; in the public, private and not-for-profit sectors (including religious institutions); around the world.

It’s easy–perhaps too easy–to find reason for disappointment.  And yet… there is also reason for optimism.

It’s often said that these are among the worst of times for leadership… it’s also, arguably, the best of times.

This list is updated quarterly. Please send your suggestions of other inspiring 21st century leaders.

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13 Leadership Lessons World War I

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Frank Dicksee Two Crowns 1900 knight steed flowers at www.servetolead.org

Sir Frank Dicksee | The Two Crowns (1900)

The Great War of 1914-18—it became the First World War only in tragic retrospect—was the seminal event of the 20th century. Its after-effects reverberate in our day.

One might argue that the 20th century actually began with the war in 1914, culminating with the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989. If so, then one might characterize World War I as the 75-Year War.

The Great War and its immediate aftermath (including the flu pandemic) consumed 37 million casualties.

As shocking as the absolute number is, consider what it would mean in today’s terms. In 1920 the population of the earth was approaching two billion; by contrast, today that number has passed seven billion. By a conservative accounting, that would translate into more than a hundred million casualties in our time.

At the outset of a new century, it may be useful to reflect upon leadership lessons that the Great War provides.

Just as the war affected aspects of life far beyond the battlefield, its leadership lessons have resonance far beyond wartime.

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James Strock

Serve to Lead | The Four Questions

Who Am I Serving?
How Can I Best Serve?
Am I Making My Unique Contribution?
What Am I Learning?

Benjamin Franklin

Morning: "What good shall I do this day?"
Evening: "What good have I done today?"

Charles De Gaulle

"History does not teach fatalism. There are moments when the will of a handful of free men breaks through determinism and opens up new roads. People get the history they deserve."

Theodore Roosevelt

"Do the best you can, with what you have, where you are."