Beyond Kumbaya

Coach & Leadership Professor Michael Chang Wenderoth asks himself a question you might well ask yourself every day. What really got them there? What is it that propels people to the top? He says that the usual answer people give you to this question is that you have to be hard-working, positive, willing,… In short he calls this approach the “Kumbaya school of leadership” or the political puppy approach.

In contrast –he says- what we see around us is that people who self-promote, strategically network, or act in powerful and not so humble ways, move faster and more effectively up the ladder. The dirty secret is that your political skills top all else in getting you ahead and driving your effectiveness. This bears no resemblance to the Kumbaya school. That’s why he advocates going beyond Kumbaya and being more of a political beast.

Prior to becoming a professional trainer and a professor at IE Business School, Prof. Wenderoth served 20 years in senior roles with multinationals in China, the US and Europe. If you want to know anything about China, or the Eastern vs Western style of management, he’s your man. His mandarin is as fluent as his Spanish.