The question, “Who ought to be boss?” is like asking, “Who ought to be tenor in the quartet?” Obviously, the man who can sing tenor.

—Henry Ford

I’m not a leader . . . I don’t have what it takes.

—Jack Shephard

Leadership is a topic that never loses its interest, and we are continually searching for sources of insight into this difficult subject. For decades, management tomes have plumbed the great minds of history in search of wisdom, leading to such books as Management & Machiavelli, Leadership Secrets of Attila the Hun, Winnie-the-Pooh on Management and, a personal favorite, Jesus CEO.

But how impressive are these so-called leaders, anyway? One out of twelve people in Asia are direct descendants of Attila the Hun, which is an accomplishment of sorts, I suppose. Of course, this accomplishment was achieved through rape and pillage on a truly grand scale (or, in management-speak, a vision-based implementation of an unprecedented multinational involuntary impregnation process). But Attila was a cannibal (he ate two of his own sons) and a drunkard who drowned in a pool of his own blood in an alcohol-induced nosebleed (while attempting, apparently, to impregnate his new bride—he was consistent, anyway). Surely we can find a better model of leadership.

Machiavelli was, let’s face it, an unemployed civil servant writing on spec white papers on leadership in the hopes of getting a job. A clever writer, yes, but a model of leadership? Not quite. Winnie-the-Pooh I  …