I recently returned from a trip to Las Vegas. I was there with my son for a high school basketball tournament. It was my first time since I was 12 years old when I was on a family vacation. Needless to say a lot has changed. The famous Las Vegas strip has expanded greatly. The strip now includes escalators, over street walkways, and a monorail. There are shows galore and a slot machine in every available space. Yet the setting strikes me as a productive leadership metaphor as well.
Las Vegas is all about entertainment. At the heart of the definition for entertainment is a sense of “amusement” or “diversion.” It is not uncommon to see people of any age, gender and ethnicity gambling for hours and at all times of the day. Hotels are set up in such a way that you never have to leave. You can dine in a variety of eateries, take in a movie, swim, workout, gamble in an infinite number of venues, get your hair cut, or shop within the world’s elite stores . . . all without leaving your covered space. All for your entertainment . . . for your amusement and diversion. When you stop to reflect it is a bit unsettling. It is an artificial world. It plays on our perceived need to be distracted and amused. And ultimately it does not fulfill. Sure, the shows can highlight a variety of great performances. And it is possible that the gambling can make you instantly rich. But there would be no Las Vegas and no gambling, nor show industry, if people were not desiring entertainment . . . a desire for amusement and diversion. Most walk away with less money and a fleeting memory of a great show. They are distracted for a moment . . . and left often with unfulfilled promises. Sometimes they come and they go as a train wreck.
Leaders can fall out on either side of this equation. Leaders can be the ones who are distracting and offering false promises . . . or the ones being distracted and chasing false promises.
Leaders can offer a great show or the promise of something for nothing . . . an image without substance . . . think of Bernie Madoff, Jim Jones or Hugo Chavez. The primary problem is one of a lack of true character. They were always more concerned about self than those they were suppose to serve. Their true idol was power or control or fame . . . greatness. They leave unfulfilled followers in their wake. Remember the gambling axiom? The house never loses. Do you always have to win? Then maybe you are a leader who leads by way of distractions and unfulfilled promises.
Leaders can also become the distracted and those who chase false promises. Sometimes the 2nd type leads to the 1st type. Leaders are prone to chase the shiny and new. They are prone towards the latest and greatest. They forget their calling. They finish unfulfilled.
Laci Loew sites three reasons why leaders fail:
1. Failure to build personal accountability.
2. Poor integrity and lack of trust.
3. The “couldn’t happen to me” syndrome.
Where are you merely being distracted and chasing after false promises as a leader?
Where are you being a distracting leader from the things that really matter? Where are you offering false promises in the name of grandiosity?
Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap. For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life. Galatians 6:7-8
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