What Leadership is Not

Leadership isn't about egos. It's not about "I". What is it about? Being humble. It's the exact opposite of the people you see on Trump's Apprentice. Goldman Sachs, with its leadership factory, emphasizes humility, recruits humility, trains humility, cultivates humility:

Goldman grooms [future leaders] in ways that later can prove useful in politics. The firm, more so than other Wall Street banks, has emphasized teamwork and leadership development. Forget the star system. Goldman "insists on minimizing the use of the first-person pronoun," says Bush adviser Friedman. To make sure that the most promising recruits serve all constituencies, the firm uses a "360-degree" performance review process, soliciting evaluations from supervisors and underlings alike, as many as 15 per review. Those lessons have served Friedman well in Washington, where he says managers whose egos are "under control" are far better at leading people. He says they also tend to be better listeners, a key skill at Goldman since clients soon grow cool to someone who pays them too little mind.

Forget CEO Hollywood. It's not needed, nor is it wanted.

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