A few weeks ago, I had an encounter with my childhood Tae Kwon Do instructor and now former role model of leadership at the gym I have been happily attending for two years. Throughout this time, he had been handing out pamphlets for his new dojo and after chatting for a while he invited me to come in for a session so purely out of my respect for him as an individual, I showed up and ended up thoroughly disappointed with him and his class for numerous reasons.
First of all, he tries to represent himself as an authentic transformational leader but in reality shows clear cut signs of pseudotransformational leadership. Northouse (2016) states, that pseudotransformational leadership is shown when an individual has undeniable inspirational talent and appeal but uses this ability towards their advantage by being manipulative and dominating which means they can care less about the general welfare of followers. Additionally, when a leader claims to be ethical they must take into account the purpose and interests of followers and should never forcefully suggest their personal intentions while ignoring the goals of followers (Northouse, 2016). Initially, when I arrived he offered me a new uniform which I respectfully declined because this was my first time back in a while and I did not want to take something I may only use once. After the class, we talked again for some time where he filled me in on his prices of the class and uniform; to which I responded that he was asking for a lot of money in comparison to the gym I attend which offers much more in return. Then he went to his computer and started punching in numbers and offered me a deal which was “40 % off” from what everyone else was paying and told me how much he wanted me to return. Thankfully, I did not wear the uniform because if I had worked out in it I would have had to commit to buying it and furthermore commit to further possible engagements with his class which was slyly being used a bait to lure me in. At first, he never mentioned any price of the uniform but after the class he was quite quick to tell me that the uniform was $70 and he would have made me pay for it had I not reminded him that I didn’t take a new uniform; which can be clearly seen as an act of manipulation. I waited until everyone left and talked to him privately and politely told him that I felt his class was too easy for someone my age and I was looking for something more physically and mentally challenging. Then he proceeded to tell me that I did not “understand” what he was offering with his class and that his intentions are to provide personalized self-actualization to all of his followers. However, even though he makes this claim he does not treat all followers equally in regards to his time and effort during classes and focuses mainly on making the weakest followers better rather than further strengthening the potential of stronger followers. In addition, it simply is not possible for an individual to ever grow within this type of environment because he forces them to exert their own time and energy into teaching others; which should be his job and duty to provide for his students not for his followers to be used and taken advantage of and providing for him. Everyone should be able to move at the pace they wish to do so and not be held back due to external factors that are forcefully impacting their progress. Lastly, I was too young to notice it at the time of childhood but as an adult I realized that some of the activities in his class are not all realistic in regards to an actual situation where self-defense must be used. If he is not properly teaching self-defense in his “Tae Kwon Do” class, then the information that is being fed to his followers is essentially useless when being faced in an actual situation where one would hope to use proper technique; if not they could get themselves critically injured during the process.
Despite the fact that I politely declined his offer, he seemed thoroughly disinterested in speaking to me afterwards and was not able to understand that I was looking for something different from what he was able to offer me. Even though, he tried to end the conversation abruptly after he knew what I intended to say, I did not allow him to do so because as one of his past followers I felt that he should know exactly why I did not want to further continue the class and there was an actual reason and logic behind my decision and that I did not want to end the conversation on a sour note. However, he did not seem to care at all even after I had told him how much he had taught me in the past and that I have grown as an individual because of his teachings. Unfortunately, it became quite evident to me after this last encounter that he was only interested in his business and getting my money and not my personal goals or interests. This situation made me quite upset because someone I had grown up admiring was actually a con artist in disguise and now I wonder if I would have been better off not knowing the information I presently know. Overall, these types of leaders are highly dangerous because they guide you towards thinking that they have your best interests in mind but in reality they do not and only hope to gain power for themselves.
References
Northouse, P. (2016). Trait approach. In Leadership: Theory and practice (7th ed.). Los Angeles, California: Sage Publications.