• IntroductionAPR  | 

    It all started as a joke, a comment a co-worker made when we were reviewing projects as part of a corporate initiative. We had seen these projects before and rejected them before because they didn't have much benefit. Now as part of new initiative, they were somehow more attractive? "Bring out your dead! Bring out all your dead projects! They'll seem healthy now." This sparked a neuron and suddenly I began to see allusions to Monty Python and the Holy Grail everywhere I looked. Isn't business a lot like Monty Python's search for the Holy Grail? Think about it. Read more...

  • Coconuts as HorsesAPR 10  |

    The movie opens with Arthur and his trusty servant banging coconut shells together and prancing in a ridiculous fashion to imitate horse-riding. (Well, actually the movie opens with several minutes of credits that include fake Swedish, multiple mentions of moose, an apology by Richard Nixon, and well, you get the drift.) Anyway, the Monty Python crew couldn't afford horses so they used coconut shells to imitate hoofbeats and a silly way of prancing with one foot and one arm forward in a pretend horse posture. Read more...

  • NEW! The Fighting LauncelotMAY 11   |

    The tale of Sir Launcelot begins with Launcelot and his trusty page, Concorde, galloping through the countryside, still riding pretend horses. Alas, out of nowhere, an arrow with a message attached fatally wounds Concorde. The note is from someone held captive in Swamp Castle who is being forced to marry against their will. Of course, Launcelot assumes that this is a damsel in distress, and, ever the opportunist, he seizes the chance to prove his mettle and launch a daring rescue.  Read more...

  • NEWER! The Killer Bunny RabbitJUNE 4   |

    We catch up with the Monty Python crew as Tim the Enchanter leads the gang to the cave where the holy grail is supposed to be hidden. Only the cave is guarded by the most fearsome and vicious monster. As the men wait in fear for the monster to show itself, out hops a bunny rabbit of the white, fluffy kind. Tim shouts something like “There it is, the beast!” but the men are confused. It’s only a little bunny rabbit. Arthur dispatches one of his men to slay the beast, but to his dismay,... Read more...

Posts

About this website

Holy Hand GrenadeThis website is based on a book that uses the movie, Monty Python and the Holy Grail, as an analogy for the life in a modern corporation - an illusive objective, bloated egos, a dysfunctional leadership team, and idiocy all around.

APR 4

WELL, I AM KING!

ENSURING LEADERSHIP IS ALIGNED WITH THE RANK-AND-FILE

Bookmark and Share

Knight on horseback trying to lead army tanks cartoonArthur continues on his search to fill his leadership team, er, round table of Camelot, and passes a group of peasants outside a castle who are frolicking?, eating? reveling? (what are they doing?) in a bunch of mud. Arthur haughtily inquires of the peasants about the lord who owns the castle. When the peasants inform him that there is no lord, and they are all part of an egalitarian, autonomous collective that makes decisions by committee, Arthur becomes increasingly testy. After all, he is their king. The peasants want to know who elected him. Arthur begins to tell them about the Lady of Lake and the magical sword only to hear the peasants snicker. I mean, that's no way to choose a government, is it? Finally, Arthur loses his patience and unfortunately unleashes a bit of wrath on one of the peasants. "Help I'm being repressed!"

Oh wow!  Doesn’t this scene say so much about leadership? Not just corporate leadership, but leadership in general. Don’t so many of our leaders seem completely out of touch with their people? I think the leadership gurus have it backwards when it comes to leadership skills. Business literature is filled with books and articles about how best to align the rank and file with the leadership vision. Isn’t it  easier and more effective to align the leadership with the organization?  This explains why “savior” CEOs brought in to rescue a company often fail spectacularly, ala  Robert Nardelli of GE who became CEO of Home Depot, only to be ousted 6 years later after alienating employees, customers, and board members alike.  His autocratic, cost-cutting management style didn’t fit at a company built around a customer-focused, friendly, laid-back organization. Later, he went to Chrysler to save them by applying the same cost-cutting approach that proved ineffective (harmful, actually) at Home Depot. The same Chrysler that, after a government bailout, filed for bankruptcy.  Yet, the business press and Wall Street seem to be enamored of the heroic “CEO” figure who can single-handedly turn a company around as if the other 50,000-75,000 people employed don’t really do anything.

 Although many studies have shown that the best CEOs are not the celebrities, but what Jim Collins calls Level 5 leaders - humble, self-effacing, and understated- corporate America is enamored of the swaggering, larger-than-life, decisive and bold personality. It's the person who dominates the meeting and forces his/her opinion on everyone who is considered leadership material, not the person who tries to understand everyone's viewpoint in order to arrive at a decision. Yet, which person would you really want to see as the CEO?

LEADERSHIP SKILLS

(THE REAL ONES YOU NEED)

For those of you who still want to make it up the corporate ranks, here are the skills that you really need to develop. Yes, I know, your company already has a prescribed set of leadership competencies that they expect you develop that go something like this:

  • Strategic thinking
  • Customer focus
  • Performance and results-driven
  • People development
  • Collaboration and team work

However, many of you have probably realized that you really need a different set of skills to be seen as leadership potential. The real leadership skills are more like:

  • Put a positive spin on everything
  • Take credit for successes, blame others for failures
  • Dominate every meeting you attend
  • Surround yourself with people who can make you a success
  • Become friendly with the people who hold power
  • Network with the levels above you
  • Use corporate platitudes liberally (Work smarter, not harder!)
  • Volunteer for everything at first and then drop those projects that won’t succeed or enhance your career. Give your inability to say “no” as the reason.
  • When thanking the team, imply that it was your leadership that caused the team to gel
  • Above all, promote yourself all the time

King Arthur takes a liking to a knight amongst his regular employees cartoonThe other you need to do if you want to get promoted, is to act just like the guy (or gal) in charge. Dress like them, use their favorite jargon, mirror their interests and become their mini-me. I guarantee that suddenly you will be considered to be high potential/high performing.   We love ourselves and we love people who are just like us. That's the real reason why most work places lack diversity.

Posted by Karen Phelan. 32 comments. Filed under Templates. Tags: awesome, new.


 

© 2010 Karen G. Phelan | Template by DemusDesign