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November 10, 2009
50 in 50. #4: A sales pitch masquerading as a book
“I want my money back!” I cried as I reached the unsatisfying conclusion of Strengths Based Leadership, which looks like a book but is actually an advertisement for a Gallup leadership system.
Then I remembered that I hadn’t actually bought the book, so I wasn’t out $24.95 (or even the $14.95 that Amazon charges): It was given to me as a thank-you token for speaking at a conference. (That’s the thanks I get.) Still, I’ll never get that 15 minutes of my life back.
Did I say 15 minutes? Yes, that was all the time it took to realize that I was being sold a bill of goods. Or a pig in a poke. Or something smelly. While it was true that the book provided a code that allows the reader to go online and discover his/her leadership skills, it’s all a thinly veiled attempt to get you to buy what Gallup is selling.
Which is not very revolutionary, actually: The premise is that leaders should leverage their strengths to be successful. Wow, no kidding.
But just when I was ready to toss the book into the recycling bin, I came across one insight that almost redeemed the whole sorry volume. Part of Gallup’s research explores why people follow leaders: trust, compassion, stability and hope. Although the research is a little squirrely (for instance, so far it was only conducted in English-speaking countries), it has interesting implications for leader communication. For example, are leader messages too factual and not emotional enough?
Still, despite this intriguing nugget, I give Strengths Based Leadership two thumbs down: One for bad grammar (The title is missing a hyphen) and the other for blatant selling.
Posted by Alison Davis at November 10, 2009 05:59 PM
(Find me around the web)
