The False Hope of More Information: On Leadership and Value--Encore Presentation

Think of the last time you had to acknowledge lengthy legal notices before you could update software or had to sign off on permissions in a doctor’s office or slog through a tedious HR training at work.

So much information, and so little time to review it, which is to say nothing of comprehending and intelligently responding to it. We drift in a world awash in information, gulping it down as quickly as possible in hopes we don’t drown.

Yet, “leaders are readers,” or so they say. Leaders gain knowledge and a degree of understanding by guzzling information.

Tell me if this sounds like your experience. Aside from books, blogs, newspapers, and magazines, I soak up podcasts, videos, and even TV shows and movies. My every day consists of a nonstop inundation of information. Have you ever listed your daily information consumption like this? I’ll bet it’s similar.

So, what’s the point? Given the amount of information I flood into my inadequate brain daily, I should have something to show for it, right? I’ve quaffed formula after formula for gaining wealth and jacking my physique. Yet, it would be generous to describe the two primary vessels where I dwell—my house and my body—as “modest.”

Still, I don’t lack for details on how to grow rich and juice my muscles. With a mere Google search, I have all the knowledge I need. But as Derek Sivers observes, “If information was the answer, we’d all be billionaires with perfect abs.” So what gives?

Imbibing all this information without action is nothing more than an empty academic exercise. And choosing to act requires resources, opportunity, and consistent motivation, not just information.

Self-improvement is more than a matter of accruing more information. Nor is it just a matter of gaining information combined with action. I must also have the desire, intention, and resources to achieve my goal.

In short, I must choose to pursue a goal, which seems obvious. But what is obviously not obvious is that the goal I choose to pursue must align with my values, my personality, my experiences, my normal behaviors, and my desires. In other words, my character.

Yet, so many of us set our aspirations based on what we think we’re supposed to aspire to, what others tell us we must aspire to, or simply what others aspire to themselves. In so doing, we’re not true to ourselves. We all do this, myself included. We all allow our aspirations to get diluted by influences outside ourselves. This dilution leads to discontent.

Think about it. How many people do you know who finally achieve their goals and yet seem dissatisfied or even forlorn? Then what? They proceed to reset their desires, moving the goalpost a little further down the field. Perhaps they had first set their sights on a big house in a good neighborhood. Once there, though, they found themselves longing for a bigger house in a better neighborhood. Call the realtor!

I think this compulsion is why we have centimillionaires and billionaires to begin with. There must come a point when the fortune, prestige, and power don’t really matter. What’s a few hundred million, give or take?

Which is not to cast aspersion on the super wealthy. I’m sure they have their fun, but would you really want to dwell among their ranks? Really, really? It’s not sour grapes to say, “no.”

As an object lesson on this point, take one of my favorite philosophers, Marcus Aurelius. Not only do I admire his writing, but I admire the man himself. Here’s a guy who reached the pinnacle of unchallenged power and success—Emperor of Rome—and yet his Meditations stands as a monument of Stoic thought. Imagine one of our current broligarchs deigning to pen such a self-effacing and enduring philosophical treatise. Who among them would have the humility and courage, let alone the wisdom?

While not an emperor, Sivers also reportedly achieved much success before refocusing his priorities. He now conveys his wisdom on personal goal setting and other matters of self-improvement through TED Talks and the like. Rather than continue to accumulate, he seems content to share with others.

Just to be clear, I’m not saying we all have to be philosophers or altruistic self-help mavens. If you really want to be a billionaire because that would bring you contentment, go for it. As Sivers says, the information needed to do so is out there. But be sure of your choice before you commit.

Personal goal setting is not an exact science. In fact it’s not a science at all. It’s a lot of hit or miss, and human nature tends to emphasize the misses over the hits. We call this phenomenon “negativity bias,” and it’s an illusion and a trap, like quicksand.

The thing is, it takes a super-evolved person to not step into this same muck over and over. The pressures of society, community, and personal expectation along with our persistent and profound propensity to deceive ourselves make the solid-seeming morass almost irresistible. Leaders are particularly susceptible because they feel pressure to get it right the first time.

Still, I doubt anyone—even the accomplished leader—figures out how to be true to themself and find contentment from the get-go no matter how many self-appointed gurus pretend otherwise.

Fulfillment and happiness take hard work. Most people have years of misdirection and habituation to overcome before they can even move down the path toward happiness, and then maintaining it is a series of constant adjustments. We’re our own worst enemies, but you’ve heard that truism before. It’s just more information in a vacuum.

For leaders, all false starts, blind alleys, and frustration are intensified because the stakes seem so much higher.

Which brings us to why I write about the fundamentals and pitfalls of leadership rather than step by step guides. Information alone will not get you there. Leadership, like anything worth doing, is an ongoing and self-renewing process. Plus, there is so much to discover for yourself.

As with setting your life’s ambitions, leadership starts with self-awareness and introspection. Great leadership follows no formula or plan, so the best leaders learn to adapt and improvise. Leadership practice—like any complex skill—is not reducible to a PowerPoint. It can only be truly learned through knowledge in combination with the ups and downs of experience.

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