zombie leader

I read this speech, Solitude and Leadership, few days back. Got reminded of below excerpt from “Heart of Darkness” while thinking about middle managers in bureaucracies.

He was commonplace in complexion, in features, in manners, and in voice. He was of middle size and of ordinary build. His eyes, of the usual blue, were perhaps remarkably cold. . . . Otherwise there was only an indefinable, faint expression of his lips, something stealthy—a smile—not a smile—I remember it, but I can’t explain. . . . He was a common trader, from his youth up employed in these parts—nothing more. He was obeyed, yet he inspired neither love nor fear, nor even respect. He inspired uneasiness. That was it! Uneasiness. Not a definite mistrust—just uneasiness—nothing more. You have no idea how effective such a . . . a . . . faculty can be. He had no genius for organizing, for initiative, or for order even. . . . He had no learning, and no intelligence. His position had come to him—why? . . . He originated nothing, he could keep the routine going—that’s all. But he was great. He was great by this little thing that it was impossible to tell what could control such a man. He never gave that secret away. Perhaps there was nothing within him. Such a suspicion made one pause.

It is a dangerous kind of zombie state to bee beware of. Maintaining the status quo, policing, making sure everyone is following the rules. No place to apply creativity, not respected, not loving anything or anyone and not loved as well. Bored, going through the motions, smiling artificially, laughing along the jokes of superiors, nodding the head, appearing amused, acting all important with others. Speaking in bullshit language and since everyone speaks the same and everyone knows that the others are also bullshitting, no one being surprised with the level of bullshit that goes around. No value to transparency or honesty. Ask a question, get a roundabout answer which can be interpreted in any way. Need to fight hard against getting stuck in such a state, something should warn if we are in that sort of Matrix, need a totem like in the movie inception which reminds us that we are in a nightmare or not.