The Penalty of Leadership

Wisdom from a vintage ad

“The reward is widespread recognition; the punishment, fierce denial and detraction.”

Leaders, by virtue of leading, stand out. In the previous edition, I wrote about how leadership can feel lonely at times.

Doing something first or doing it best attracts attention. People are naturally curious — some are even jealous — and because leaders serve by example, they’re a target for this interest.

In 1915, Cadillac ran an ad in The Saturday Evening Post titled “The Penalty of Leadership,” with no mention of a product and only a small instance of the company’s logo.

This ad ran only once, but was extremely popular, leading to Cadillac receiving numerous requests for reprints over the next three decades.