Professionalization

This final chapter reminds readers that the book is based on three fundamental assumptions. First, the leadership industry does not take sufficiently seriously its responsibility for teaching people how to lead. Second, the industry has the capital to prime the pedagogical pump—though not, self-evidently, so far, the political will. Third, experts and educators must themselves lead the charge for change. This is not just idle intellectual chatter, but a practical issue of the utmost consequence. For so long as professionalism is shunned, so long will leadership stay stuck—an occupation of dubious repute instead of a respected profession. The closing pages provide guidelines for transitioning leadership from where it is to where it should be. The whole, then, is not about greatness or exceptionalism or leaders who are legends. Rather it is about being up to the task—about teaching how to lead, learning how to lead, as ethically as effectively.