The Leader Who Had No Title
I was interested in the book, The Leader Who Had No Title: A Modern Fable on Real Success in Business and in Life, because I thought it might have some interesting ideas for a Communist society. Overall, I found the book to be an essentially American book with its emphasis on worship of military service and acquisition of the trappings of success.
All five (5) teachers in this fable thank the protaganist (Blake) for his military service in Iraq (45, 89, 132, 159). This I find to be a feature of current US literature. Military service is to be respected by everyone. This positions the book towards the right wing of US politics. This alone makes the book intriguing enough to read about how a Communist ideal of leadership among the workers can be accommodated in a Capitalist enterprise.
The first teacher, Tommy Flinn, appears as a hobo (8) but who is really a star employee at the bookshop chain for which Blake works (8). First appearances leads me to believe that Tommy is in only in this gig for the joy of working. Yet, two of the teachers have trappings of wealth: Tommy with his "shiny new black Porsche 911S" (29); and Jet's lecture on aesthetics versus possession (163-5).
Jet's thesis is that it is the appreciation of the finer things rather than the possession of material wealth (165). This development of aesthetics is seen as essential to the development of an inner life which is important for leaders. Wealth is a necessary thing for acquisition of the finer things which leads to an improved inner life which produces a better leader. Sounds awfully like an aristocrat arguing why the feudal lords should be in charge on the eve of the French Revolution.
All in all, I found this book to be directed at the labour aristocracy (people like me) in spite of Anna's intervention as a housekeeper. There was not one example of someone working in a factory or on a farm. The examples were all in the service sector: bookshop; hotel; ski shop; public library; and massage parlour. And two (2) of the teachers were self-employed: Ty and Jet.
It is members of the labour aristocracy who are able to do:
- Innovation (60) is really the province of the Department I worker. The thesis of the book is that our jobs now are more and more in Department I rather than Department II.
- Mastery (64) of the skills in a job is again for the Department I worker. A Department II has to maintain flexibility to change jobs and skills quickly in response to 'market' demands.
- Authenticity (74) is difficult for all workers because we have to mould ourselves to fit the requirements of our employers. We have to become what they pay us to be. Authenticity is tolerated in Department I workers as long as we deliver on innovation.
I find most of the aphorisms to be really relevant to trusted workers in the labour aristocracy. These are the privileges of membership.
A quandry for the Capitalist evangelist is require that revolutionary change to be done in a slow, evolutionary manner (62). Reform is preferred over Revolution.
This book continues on the trend within the intellectual circles of how to get the workers more engaged and therefore productive without ceding any power to the workers. We now have an economic system that requires worker democracy on the shop floor in order to implement increases in productivity while maintaining power in the offices upstairs. At best, we are entering a period of dual power where workers are becoming more confident in their decision making skills while managers are losing control slowly as workers are making better decisions faster.
Bibliography
Sharma, Robin. The Leader Who Had No Title: A Modern Fable on Real Success in Business and in Life, Simon & Schuster, 2010, UK.
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