eager wantâ in me, just as Dale Carnegie advised salesmen to do with their prospects so many years ago. And sure enough, when the break is over, a lengthy video comes on the mega-screen, pitching Tonyâs relationship-building seminar.
In another brilliantly conceived segment, Tony devotes part of the seminar to explaining the financial and emotional benefits of surrounding oneself with the right âpeer groupââafter which a staffer begins a sales pitch for the $45,000 Platinum program. Those who purchase one of the twelve spots will join the âultimate peer group,â we are toldâthe âcream of the crop,â the âelite of the elite of the elite.â
I canât help but wonder why none of the other UPWers seem to mind, or even to notice, these upselling techniques. By now many of them have shopping bags at their feet, full of stuff they bought out in the lobbyâDVDs, books, even eight-by-ten glossies of Tony himself, ready for framing.
But the thing about Tonyâand what draws people to buy his productsâis that like any good salesman, he
believes
in what heâs pitching. He apparently sees no contradiction between wanting the best forpeople and wanting to live in a mansion. He persuades us that heâs using his sales skills not only for personal gain but also to help as many of us as he can reach. Indeed, one very thoughtful introvert I know, a successful salesman who gives sales training seminars of his own, swears that Tony Robbins not only improved his business but also made him a better person. When he started attending events like UPW, he says, he focused on who he wanted to become, and now, when he delivers his own seminars, he
is
that person. âTony gives me energy,â he says, âand now I can create energy for other people when Iâm onstage.â
At the onset of the Culture of Personality, we were urged to develop an extroverted personality for frankly selfish reasonsâas a way of outshining the crowd in a newly anonymous and competitive society. But nowadays we tend to think that becoming more extroverted not only makes us more successful, but also makes us better people. We see salesmanship as a way of sharing oneâs gifts with the world.
This is why Tonyâs zeal to sell to and be adulated by thousands of people at once is seen not as narcissism or hucksterism, but as leadership of the highest order. If Abraham Lincoln was the embodiment of virtue during the Culture of Character, then Tony Robbins is his counterpart during the Culture of Personality. Indeed, when Tony mentions that he once thought of running for president of the United States, the audience erupts in loud cheers.
But does it always make sense to equate leadership with hyper-extroversion? To find out, I visited Harvard Business School, an institution that prides itself on its ability to identify and train some of the most prominent business and political leaders of our time.
The Myth of Charismatic Leadership: Harvard Business School and Beyond
The first thing I notice about the Harvard Business School campus is the way people walk. No one ambles, strolls, or lingers. They stride, full of forward momentum. Itâs crisp and autumnal the week I visit, and the studentsâ bodies seem to vibrate with September electricity as they advance across campus. When they cross each otherâs paths they donât merely nodâthey exchange animated greetings, inquiring about this oneâs summer with J. P. Morgan or that oneâs trek in the Himalayas.
They behave the same way inside the social hothouse of the Spangler Center, the sumptuously decorated student center. Spangler has floor-to-ceiling silk curtains in sea-foam green, rich leather sofas, giant Samsung high-definition TVs silently broadcasting campus news, and soaring ceilings festooned with high-wattage chandeliers. The tables and sofas are clustered mostly on the perimeter of the room,
In another brilliantly conceived segment, Tony devotes part of the seminar to explaining the financial and emotional benefits of surrounding oneself with the right âpeer groupââafter which a staffer begins a sales pitch for the $45,000 Platinum program. Those who purchase one of the twelve spots will join the âultimate peer group,â we are toldâthe âcream of the crop,â the âelite of the elite of the elite.â
I canât help but wonder why none of the other UPWers seem to mind, or even to notice, these upselling techniques. By now many of them have shopping bags at their feet, full of stuff they bought out in the lobbyâDVDs, books, even eight-by-ten glossies of Tony himself, ready for framing.
But the thing about Tonyâand what draws people to buy his productsâis that like any good salesman, he
believes
in what heâs pitching. He apparently sees no contradiction between wanting the best forpeople and wanting to live in a mansion. He persuades us that heâs using his sales skills not only for personal gain but also to help as many of us as he can reach. Indeed, one very thoughtful introvert I know, a successful salesman who gives sales training seminars of his own, swears that Tony Robbins not only improved his business but also made him a better person. When he started attending events like UPW, he says, he focused on who he wanted to become, and now, when he delivers his own seminars, he
is
that person. âTony gives me energy,â he says, âand now I can create energy for other people when Iâm onstage.â
At the onset of the Culture of Personality, we were urged to develop an extroverted personality for frankly selfish reasonsâas a way of outshining the crowd in a newly anonymous and competitive society. But nowadays we tend to think that becoming more extroverted not only makes us more successful, but also makes us better people. We see salesmanship as a way of sharing oneâs gifts with the world.
This is why Tonyâs zeal to sell to and be adulated by thousands of people at once is seen not as narcissism or hucksterism, but as leadership of the highest order. If Abraham Lincoln was the embodiment of virtue during the Culture of Character, then Tony Robbins is his counterpart during the Culture of Personality. Indeed, when Tony mentions that he once thought of running for president of the United States, the audience erupts in loud cheers.
But does it always make sense to equate leadership with hyper-extroversion? To find out, I visited Harvard Business School, an institution that prides itself on its ability to identify and train some of the most prominent business and political leaders of our time.
The Myth of Charismatic Leadership: Harvard Business School and Beyond
The first thing I notice about the Harvard Business School campus is the way people walk. No one ambles, strolls, or lingers. They stride, full of forward momentum. Itâs crisp and autumnal the week I visit, and the studentsâ bodies seem to vibrate with September electricity as they advance across campus. When they cross each otherâs paths they donât merely nodâthey exchange animated greetings, inquiring about this oneâs summer with J. P. Morgan or that oneâs trek in the Himalayas.
They behave the same way inside the social hothouse of the Spangler Center, the sumptuously decorated student center. Spangler has floor-to-ceiling silk curtains in sea-foam green, rich leather sofas, giant Samsung high-definition TVs silently broadcasting campus news, and soaring ceilings festooned with high-wattage chandeliers. The tables and sofas are clustered mostly on the perimeter of the room,
Similar Books
