The Mistakes of Michael Jackson Like That of Many Leaders

John McKee wrote an interesting blog posting regarding the similarity of  the deadly mistakes Michael Jackson made to that of leaders in other roles.  And, John’s right, leadership is not a “king of the universe” suit you have put on because you’ve “made it” that makes you superman, invincible, able to leap tall buildings while giving you the deceptive right to live life out from under the moral perimeters that keep us safe from self deception.  The question I ponder is, how can we as leadership coaches, consultants, psychologists, and professionals reach the man/woman in the suit, once they’ve reached that illusive quality of “influence’ over others and put the suit of self importance on.  A question I believe we need to continually ponder as we ourselves could be at risk of being bigger than life ourselves.  There are two requirement of clients who choose to work with me, 1. be willing and 2. be teachable.  I need to be reminded that I too need the same, along with a good mirror and accountability to those who won’t allow me to get away with this “king of the universe” mentality John speaks of.   No matter how great, how accomplished, how endearing or mesmurizing a person may become, they are still just people who are tempted to believe the acolaids of others who need and want an idol.