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The Taboos of Leadership: 10 Secrets No One Will Tell You About Leaders and What They Really Think Author: Anthony F. Smith
Reviewed
by Andrew Clancy,
Senior Editor What comes to mind when one hears the word "taboo?" For many people, the very word should barely be more than mumbled. It produces mental images of shades being drawn, clandestine acts of criminality being committed and comments being whispered after looking both ways. At the same time, human nature is no stranger to the electric current that runs through the body when flirting with the forbidden. Oddly enough, in a world that continues to be more and more desensitized to violence and sexuality, there are ever-increasing restrictions on speech and behavior. In a corporate setting, the list of commandments beginning "Thou shalt not" takes up more than a couple tablets. Leaders who operate under these circumstances are consistently scrutinized for what they do and how they do it, but heaven forbid if they ever complain. No employee wants to hear an executive discuss his or her problems while the leader earns in two weeks what the worker takes months to make. It is during these confusing times that Anthony F. Smith, co-founder of Leadership Research Institute, presents a book that should create a healthy form of controversy. The Taboos of Leadership: 10 Secrets No One Will Tell You About Leaders and What They Really Think will hopefully lead to an open dialogue about whether or not the successful ends justify the seemingly taboo means. Smith’s 10 taboos are not the run of the mill list of human resources violations that would feature in any leadership training video. His inspiration comes from the perception that some of the most frequently cited complaints about executives are rendered null and void upon closer examination. Smith was partly inspired to write The Taboos of Leadership after a discussion with a client revealed that the executive couldn’t discuss his problems with others for fear of judgment and harsh reprimand. Smith and his organization spoke to other leaders and a brilliant concept was born. In some cases, the issues were of a moral nature, i.e. "Is receiving a $50,000 bonus fair compensation for a leader who consistently puts in 60-hour weeks?" Other concerns were obvious legal landmines waiting to feel pressure from a CEO’s wingtip, such as, "Two previous female hires left to devote more time to their children after only five months. Is it just a better business practice to give male job candidates an upper hand when hiring?" Any executive reading this review should consider his or her answers to the above questions carefully. Is this something that could be discussed among a reader’s peers, much less his or her employees? This is what makes The Taboos of Leadership an important book. It addresses issues that are almost certainly on the minds of today’s leaders without forcing the executive to open him- or herself up to criticism by bringing up potentially problematic scenarios. Many of Smith’s topics are bound to cause controversy. Of the book’s 10 taboos, the section that debates whether or not women are truly capable of leading an organization may create the greatest amount of buzz. While Smith occasionally skirts the line of being glib, he does address an issue that continues to predominate discussions of female advancement in the workplace: Should women and men be treated identically? Note that the term "equal" is not used in the previous question. Smith points out that the definition of equality has continued to shift between men and women being equal but different versus being equal and identical. The fact that the (socially) prime child-bearing years intersect with the prime career-building years puts the female gender in a unique position. Should this preclude an organization from promoting a young female into an executive position? The Taboos of Leadership is not afraid to tackle this question. One of the great misfortunes of a progressive society is a desire to shield itself from emotional discomfort. Many of the topics discussed in The Taboos of Leadership will make readers feel slightly uncomfortable, particularly when Smith hints that favoritism, office politics and power struggles may, in certain circumstances, be necessary. While boorish leaders should not look at The Taboos of Leadership as vindication for their misdeeds, an executive that feels exasperated by attempts to please everyone may find Smith’s "plain talk" very comforting. He does not shy away from the notion that the corporate world is an exceptional playing field where the rules aren’t always the same as everyday life. What separates Smith from his contemporaries is the fact that he is unapologetic about exploiting the taboos discussed in The Taboos of Leadership. Sometimes, it would seem, it really is good to be bad. The Taboos of Leadership: 10 Secrets No One Will Tell You About Leaders and What They Really Think by Anthony F. Smith will be published by Jossey-Bass in May 2007. 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