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88 PCB007 MAGAZINE I MAY 2023 wolves, and sheepdogs. I had two sons in the military, one who later became a police officer, and I felt so strongly about his message that I got a tattoo of a sheepdog. 'Never Hire a 5.0' Another one of my favorite management consultants is Tom Peters, author of the book In Search of Excellence. At one of his appear- ances in the early '80s, he said something that has stuck with me throughout my career. When talking about hiring leaders, he said, "If you are looking for a needle mover, never hire a 5.0." It wasn't until I was well into my lead- ership journey that I began to understand and embrace his advice. Tom's point was that peo- ple who strive to be perfect don't color outside the lines. ey follow the rules and don't think outside the box. In other words, they live by the status quo. Now don't get me wrong, 5.0 GPAers are critical to running successful busi- nesses. But they are not the visionaries who will bust through the status quo and lead the organization to bigger and better things. Another personal note: When I began my undergraduate program, I was caught up in being a perfectionist and wanted to finish with a 5.0 GPA. I was a typical Type A overachiever, and along with that came the stress and pres- sure to be perfect. About halfway through the program, I received my first "B," making my goal of a 5.0 out of reach. Once that happened, it was like a boulder was lied from my shoul- ders, and I was able to enjoy the process. is was a critical revelation and instrumental in later helping me balance busi- ness school, work, and family. I now gladly embrace my "perfect imperfection." When I said earlier that I don't blame the sheep, it's true. In fact, I blame the leadership, and this includes leaders of our edu- cational system. I believe that from elementary school through university, indoctrination is the norm and crit- ical thinking is oen squashed. Teaching and graduating sheep is a lot easier than developing students to think for themselves and question the status quo. I believe the reason we rank so low in world academic achievement is because we graduate so many sheep—well-educated, but compliant rule-followers, nonetheless. 'Heretics' are the New Leaders What is a heretic? In this context of leader- ship, it is a person whose opinions, ideas, and perspective are in direct opposition to the cur- rent organizational norms. ey challenge everything and don't accept business as usual. In that sense, truly great leaders are heretics: they challenge the status quo, develop solu- tions, and drive change. Being a heretic is not for the weak. ey are oen (almost always) ridiculed, criticized, and not taken seriously at first. Heretics don't follow; they lead. To quote Seth Godin: "Leaders go first: Everyone will think it's stupid! Everyone says it's impossible. Guess what? Everyone works in the balloon factory and everyone is wrong." One of the greatest heretics of all time, and another personal favorite, was Steve Jobs. He had the incredible vision to create products that people didn't even know they wanted