In my opinion, leadership is one of the most discussed and misunderstood topics in modern discourse. Every day, social media platforms seem to be flooded with well-meaning but ultimately superficial slogans and oversimplified advice claiming to unlock the secrets of great leadership. “A leader serves first,” “Put others before all else – including yourself,” or “Leadership is all about empathy” might attract attention, but they fail to provide the substantive guidance necessary to develop real leadership skills. These platitudes not only mislead aspiring leaders but also perpetuate the mindset of stagnation or decline in teams and organizations that follow them. If you want real results, you’ll need something more.

For clarity, a platitude is a remark or statement that has either been used so frequently that it has lost its originality, impact, and meaning or a trite or clichéd expression that lacks any real depth or originality. If that doesn’t sum up the vast majority of the leadership-related memes on social media lately, I don’t know what does. Something needs to change.

The Problem with Leadership Platitudes

At first glance, leadership platitudes might seem harmless or even inspirational. However, their simplicity often conceals their terrible inadequacy. When we convince ourselves to agree with such nonsense, our actions often align, and our outcomes (and teams) pay the price. Don’t take the bait.

Understand that these feel-good statements rarely account for the complexities of human behavior, organizational dynamics, and the multifaceted nature of communication and influence, let alone the contextual challenges leaders face. Moreover, such statements distort expectations, leading individuals to believe that leadership is easy, innate, or achievable without intentional effort or that a leader’s job is to appease them. Nothing could be further from the truth, and remember, you train people how to treat you.

Consider the popular mantra, “A leader serves first.” While service is a key aspect of leadership in some settings, reducing it to an absolute priority is not a good idea. It can lead to burnout, boundary issues, or neglect of broader organizational goals. Failure is right around the corner. Leaders must balance service with strategy, ensuring that their actions benefit both the team and the organization as a whole. This is exceptionally difficult if there is an over-focus on the individual.

Another example is the idea that “Put others before yourself.” While selflessness is admirable, leaders who consistently prioritize others over their own well-being or the well-being of the organization risk becoming highly ineffective. There is a reason you have to put your oxygen mask on first if your plane is going down—because you are useless to everyone if you’re not squared away. Leadership requires a sustainable approach that considers the leader’s capacity to lead effectively over the long term, as well as the vision or destination of the organization. Serving the whims of everyone without a hefty dose of self-respect and strict alignment with the vision is simply a terrible mistake.

Why Leaders Need to Recognize This

Leaders who rely on platitudes risk missing the depth and nuance required to navigate complex environments. Similarly, empty slogans fail to equip leaders with actionable tools for problem-solving, decision-making, or inspiring teams. Worse, they can create a false sense of competence, leading to overconfidence, Epistemic Rigidity, and overall poor judgment. Of course, this mixture typically leads to stagnation, decline, and, ultimately, failure.

Just stop with the nonsense! Effective leadership requires much more than a motivational pep rally. It demands critical thinking, emotional intelligence, and a willingness to adapt. It requires vision, learning, and continuous development. Additionally, leaders must understand that success comes from deliberate practice, self-awareness, and continuous learning, not from a meme you found on LinkedIn.

What Leaders Can Do

If you don’t want to fall into that nonsensical and unnecessary trap, here are a few things you can do:

1. Follow the Science of Leadership: For some reason, many still don’t know that leadership is a social science or that real leadership is a discipline grounded in research and evidence. Leaders should engage with credible resources, including books, courses, and journals focused on the science of leadership (leaderology). Beware the gurus! An easy way to tell that you are examining real leadership material might be the uncomfortable or challenging nature of the content. Bonus points for understanding concepts such as transformational leadership, strategic leadership, situational awareness, and team dynamics. These provide a strong foundation for informed decision-making.
2. Beware of Pseudo-Leadership Concepts: I’ve said before, and I’ll say it again—”Beware the gurus”—the supposed “experts” who haven’t studied leadership a day in their lives. In other words, be highly skeptical of any leadership advice that lacks depth or evidence. Be equally skeptical of leadership advice that makes it seem like everyone is awesome, and all you have to do is show up and think of others. That’s not leadership. Similarly, many self-proclaimed experts sell quick fixes or frameworks that promise overnight success. Cutting corners rarely leads to anything other than the success of the charlatan selling you the nonsense. Leaders must question these claims and seek out approaches backed by empirical research.
3. Invest in Lifelong Learning: Leadership development doesn’t stop after a single workshop or certification. It is a lifelong journey that involves learning from experiences, seeking mentorship, engaging with challenging concepts, continuous development, and staying informed about emerging trends and challenges. Leaders should strive to build a diverse skill set that evolves with the demands of their roles and appeals to accuracy over emotional validations.
4. Embrace Self-Awareness and Reflection: In many ways, true leadership begins with self-awareness—an awareness of what you don’t know, your weaknesses, and your biases. Leaders must regularly reflect on such things if they truly desire growth. Tools like 360-degree feedback, personality assessments (NOT the MBTI), and professional development can all help. I could go on, but you probably get the point.

Moving Beyond Platitudes

If you want to learn more, I have written many articles on the topic. Nonetheless, I want you to understand that real leadership is too important to be reduced to catchy phrases or oversimplified advice. Beware the over-confident novices—they are everywhere! And while motivational quotes might momentarily inspire, they simply cannot replace the rigorous effort required to develop into an effective leader, nor can the effectively describe the paradoxical nature of the discipline.

My advice to aspiring leaders is to resist the temptation of catchy slogans and superficial leadership strategies. Embrace the demanding yet rewarding journey of continuous growth grounded in the science of leadership instead. Just know that leadership is often seemingly paradoxical and counterintuitive—if it feels simple, there’s likely something you’ve overlooked. I should also say that true development is rarely easy; if it wasn’t challenging, it likely wasn’t transformative. And perhaps that is the true lesson. Genuine leadership development goes far beyond the fleeting excitement of a pep rally—it’s about building lasting skills and insights that drive vision-focused outcomes.

In other words… platitudes don’t create leaders—but dedication to learning, reflection, and action does. The science of leadership is a journey, not something a meme or weekend seminar can provide you. We must submit to the discipline. It takes a little effort, but the journey rewards those who embrace its complexity with humility and determination.

Be sure to check out my article on Pep Rally Leadership