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Introduction: Leadership Is Overrated

How did a group of nineteenth-century explorers survive a deadly winter in Antarctica ship trapped in ice, no working instruments to guide them, and a sun-less existence that turned men mad? It might have had something to do with the penguins.

In 1896, the Belgian naval officer Adrien Victor Joseph de Gerlache de Gomery bought a whaling ship from Norway called the Patria. He renamed it the Belgica and set sail for Antarctica the following year on the first scientific mission to explore the continent. 

Accompanied by a crew of scientists and officers from Norway, Romania, and Poland, the Belgica set sail from Antwerp in August 1897. Onboard was a crew of over twenty men, including the Norwegian Roald Amundsen, who would later lead the first successful expedition to the South Pole. On the way to Antarctica, the Belgica stopped in Rio de Janeiro, where the crew was joined by Frederick Cook, an American who became the ship’s doctor and would later lead an expedition to the North Pole. Both he and Amundsen would keep detailed journals of the trip, making notes and observations used for future adventures. 

The group was far from prepared for what was to come. Many of the men lacked basic seamanship skills, and others did not possess the discipline necessary to survive such a harrowing journey. Some quit, others were dismissed, and those who remained were not any better off. 

In January 1898, the crew reached the coast of the Antarctic peninsula, the northernmost part of Antarctica; and over the next month, they sailed through a string of islands, charting and naming several of them, then crossing the Antarctic Circle in February. 

By March, the ship had gotten trapped in the ice of the Bellinghausen Sea. Despite the crew’s attempts to break free, they soon realized their predicament would not be easily overcome. Cook wrote: “We are imprisoned in an endless sea of ice… We have told all the tales, real and imaginative, to which we are equal. Time weighs heavily upon us as the darkness slowly advances.” 

In May, the sun set and did not rise for months. The crew, deprived of sunlight and enough winter clothing for every man on board, grew sick and demoralized. There was not enough food, so they hunted to stay alive. In spite of the only doctor onboard—Cook—recommending a diet of high protein (which included raw penguin and seal meat) to avoid the effects of scurvy, the ship’s commander forbade the diet as he didn’t like the strange taste of the meat. Both he and the captain grew so sick that they wrote their wills and confined themselves to bed, expecting to die. Some men did die, while others became deathly ill, and even others went insane. The crew was filled with despair, and death loomed over the darkened horizon of each day. 

In June, Emile Danco, a Belgian geophysicist, died of a previously existing heart condition worsened by the lack of proper food and extreme conditions. The Polish geologist Henryk Arctowski, who was also onboard, wrote of his burial, “In the obscurity of the midday twilight we carried Lieutenant Danco’s body to a hole which had been cut in the ice, and committed it to the deep. A bitter wind was blowing as, with bared heads, each of us silent, we left him there.” 

With both commander and captain now ill, first mate Amundsen and the ship’s doctor Cook took charge of the ship and ordered the men to eat high rations of the stored penguin and seal meat. Soon, the crew was eating seven meals a day, restoring the men to relatively good health and improving their mental faculties and physical strength. As the men improved, Cook encouraged them to sit in front of the fire each night and play card games, gambling with imaginary sums of money. This helped the crew focus on something other than the imminence of their own extinction, and soon they drummed up enough courage and motivation to break out of their ice tomb.

After a series of experiments based on ideas from various crew mates and officers, they used a combination of saws, explosives, and pure luck to break through the ice. It took the ship a month to get out. This effort was directed by Cook with the help of Amundsen and the rest of the crewmates, who were still healthy. Commander de Gerlache eventually was converted to the diet of raw meat and was slowly nursed back to health, as was the captain Georges Lecointe. By this time, they had joined the other two men now in command of the ship; and together, the foursome led the crew out of the icy quagmire. 

When the Belgica returned to Antwerp in November of 1899, de Gerlache was praised and awarded high honors, the mission considered a success. They had spent thirteen months trapped in ice, their crew nearly perished, and the man who became so sick he could no longer lead his poorly-prepared crew was made a hero.

The Old Guard Is Gone

The above is the story we are often told of leadership: it is a tale that makes for great movies and inspiring feats of heroism. It’s the sort of thing grandfathers tell their grandsons while bouncing them on their knees; it’s what we often aspire to, what men and women hope to expect of themselves and each other. And it is a complete falsehood….

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Chapter 7: Creating a Culture of Empowerment

Aretha Franklin wasn’t always the queen of soul. It was a calling she had to grow into, an artistic style that, in a way, had to find her. And she didn’t necessarily get there all on her own. She, like all of us, was a product of her environment. And like a true master, she knew how to take control of even the most chaotic of situations.

It was 1967. Before she ever mystified generations with “RESPECT” and other such classics, Aretha Franklin was a 24-year-old singer trying to make it in a world that was largely run by men. “She was a very shy, introverted lady at the time,” recalled David Hood, a bass player who ended up playing trombone that day. “I think she was probably a little nervous at the start of it.” 

The daughter of a preacher, Franklin, had just wrapped up a contract with Columbia Records and had just been signed to Atlantic with the aid of her manager and husband-at-the-time, Ted White. Jerry Wexler, a well-known record producer working with Atlantic, saw something in Aretha that just needed to be unlocked. He called his friend Rick Hall who had just produced a hit with Percy Sledge the year before—the instant soul classic, “When a Man Loves a Woman.” Bolstered by this immediate success, Hall was eager to try again.

Wexler, Franklin, and White flew down to Hall’s studio in Muscle Shoals, Alabama, where they spent two days working together to record a couple of songs they hoped would become big hits. What happened at FAME studios that day was nothing short of a disaster—but also a miracle. Franklin’s husband started drinking heavily and by mid-afternoon was completely drunk, demanding Hall—who was managing the studio that day—fire a couple of musicians he insisted were hitting on his wife. While that was happening in the background, something else was occurring amongst the band. 

Seated at the piano, Aretha was trying to figure out how to do this first song she was tackling. The band was a group of white men who would later be called the “Swampers” by Lynyrd Skynyrd and forever immortalized in the song “Sweet Home Alabama,” together they were working on “I Never Loved a Man (the Way that I Love You) and having trouble with its waltz-like rhythm. They couldn’t figure it out. The manager, producer, and sound engineer were busy arguing over perceived slights and trying to put out relational fires while the young singer herself struggled to realize her potential. The session seemed doomed. It was then that session musician Spooner Oldham started playing around with a five-note riff on the electric piano. “[E]veryone fell in line with that,” said Hood, “started playing, and that saved the song.” Meanwhile, Aretha’s husband grew more drunk and antagonistic; halfway through recording the second song, Wexler called off the session for the rest of the day. Everyone went home.

That night, Rick Hall, still perturbed by the behavior of Ted White, decided to knock on his hotel room and confront him in spite of Wexler’s insistence that he not do exactly that. Arriving at the hotel later in the evening, a little intoxicated himself now, Hall began by trying to talk some sense into his client, but soon the two started to fight. White threw Hall out of the hotel room and cursed him, as did his once-friend Jerry Wexler. The sound engineer did the same to them both, screaming in the hall as he was expelled from the hotel, forever burning a bridge in the recording industry. Hall later recalled in his own biography, “I hated him, and he hated me, they hated me, and I hated them. It wasn’t good for the industry, it was not good for me, I made a terrible mistake going over there and getting into it with Ted, and for all that, I was sorry, but you know, things happen.”

The next day, a note was posted on the studio door saying the session had been canceled. Franklin and White left town, and shortly after that, Wexler flew everyone, including the musicians from Hall’s studio, to New York and finished the record. “I Never Loved a Man” climbed the Billboard charts, reaching #9, and became the title track of Aretha’s breakthrough album. Wexler set up a studio across town with the Swampers as the studio band. Those four country boys—Barry Beckett, Roger Hawkins, David Hood, and Jimmy Johnson—ended up producing multiple hit records for the likes of the Rolling Stones, Elton John, Willie Nelson, Paul Simon, and so many others seeking that “Muscle Shoals sound” that soon became a fixture of the music industry.

And it all began with Aretha, a talented woman in the thick of a few men’s egos, working with a ragtag group of musicians fiddling around on instruments that were not their primary tools for musical excellence. And somehow, something beautiful emerged. It was chaos, of course, but sometimes that’s how it goes—too much order, and you end up with tyranny; too little, and it’s chaos. That day in the studio, and many days after that, the Swampers became a self-led team, offering an antidote to the extremes of total order or total chaos. 

Creative work is a dance, especially when you’re collaborating with others; no one knows exactly what ought to be done because they are all listening to each other in a mutually beneficial and informative way. They’re watching each other, getting into flow with one another, trying things that may or may not work to see what emerges. They are Indra’s net, each glancing at others and being glanced at, seeing what they’re sharing reflected back to them—just like how one musician might react to what they hear someone else playing. They were jamming, and in that jam, they found something sweet and good…

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Phase II: Develop

A SEAL goes through all kinds of physical and mental conditioning just to get through Hell Week, but it's not the toughest part of basic training. The toughest part is the week that follows Hell Week—which is called “Pool Week.” That's where we are. 

Pool Week is when you're put through multiple underwater tests, and the instructors tie knots in the oxygen supply lines of your scuba gear while your goggles are “blacked-out,” simulating you are on a dive in the middle of the night. Or they'll rip off your dive mask, turn off your air supply and violently spin your body around, simulating chaos. They will mess with you constantly to test your composure, keep you adaptive, on your toes, ready for anything. 

The first part is over, the second is about to begin. And if you can make it, you'll be miles ahead of where most people ever reach. You'll be prepared to handle the final phase of this process, sustaining what you've built. Let's dive in together.

Developing a culture is a process that requires perseverance and resilience. Just as in SEAL training, where the grueling Hell Week serves as a defining moment, transforming an organization's culture demands endurance and commitment. After defining the desired culture, Phase II, known as Pool Week, commences—an essential phase in the journey.

Within the context of culture transformation, it is crucial to examine the leadership industry itself. The traditional class structure of leadership has gone off the rails, resulting in negative consequences. In many surveys, 75% or more state they hate their boss. Changing the culture of the leadership industry entails reevaluating our perceptions and views of leadership – who we call leaders, how we define a leader, and how we train leaders. It requires shifting away from outdated models and embracing new paradigms that empower and enable individuals at all levels to contribute and lead effectively.

By challenging the existing notions of leadership and fostering a culture that values collaboration, innovation, and inclusivity, we can revitalize the leadership industry. It is a collective effort to reshape the narrative and redefine leadership as a dynamic and adaptable force that empowers individuals to make a positive impact. And we all must play a part!

Through this transformation, we have an opportunity to cultivate a culture where leadership is not confined to a select few but is accessible to all. By nurturing a culture that promotes leadership at every level, we can harness the full potential of individuals, as the SEALs have done, and create a more inclusive and progressive environment.

Just as Pool Week prepares SEAL candidates for the final phase, focusing on transforming the culture of leadership prepares us for the future. Embracing a new perspective on leadership and reshaping the leadership industry can unlock immense possibilities and enable organizations to thrive in a rapidly evolving world. It is time to challenge the existing norms, break free from the class structure of leadership that has gone bad, and create a culture that empowers and inspires everyone to lead with purpose and impact, not just the leader. Because in its current form, leadership is overrated…

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Who is This Book For?

It’s no surprise many people feel a widespread disenchantment towards their bosses and careers these days. It's no secret that poor leadership can lead to disengaged team members and even leaders themselves, which can all significantly impact a company's bottom line (and not for the better). Billions of dollars are lost each year due to a workforce that's become indifferent about their work and fatalistic regarding the outcome. 

We need a change in the way we organize organizations.

The problem is not just the leaders. It’s how we’ve come to think of leadership and the teams that follow them. In a sense, we are all to blame for creating this modern monster we call command-and-control leadership that runs rampant in most organizations. And if we all have had a part to play in creating this mess, we all must accept our roles in fixing it.

If you're tired of the same old books about leadership that offer the same old advice about stepping up, leaning in, or the latest twelve tricks to help you stand out, this book is for you. We (Chris Meffort and Kyle Buckett) have taken a hard look at the leadership industry, exposing its flaws and offering a new perspective on what it really takes to build a team that succeeds and wins in a post-pandemic, 21st-century world. 

Pulling from our own experiences, insights, and research, we address the very real and significant financial cost, people cost, and opportunities lost—for both individuals and companies—as a result of a leadership culture that is broken and laughably overrated. If you're ready to shake things up, make a real difference, and transform your life, career, and organization, it’s time to change everything—starting with how much control we give the leader…