The Boiling Frog

"We are in deep trouble. Climate change, income inequality, unregulated technological innovations, systemic corruption. For decades, we have allowed political and business leaders to create, facilitate then ignore these serious threats. Some are existential. the time to act is now. This book tells why and how."

There is an old adage about the boiling frog, which claimed that if you dropped a frog into a pot of boiling water, it would immediately jump out. But if you placed it in cool water and gradually raised the temperature to a boil, the frog would slowly cook without realizing it. True or not, the adage does describe well how we have arrived at this critical juncture, and how crucial it is that we jump out of the water. The 'boiling frog' is a metaphor for a society that has been lulled to sleep while perilous forces and corrupt leaders have endangered the world. We stand at an unprecedented crossroads in human history, where the choices and actions we take regarding climate change, income inequality, and technological innovations can either save or sink us as a species. But widespread societal ignorance and complacency have resulted in few demands for leadership accountability and action. Expanding income inequality has created a plutocracy—the 0.1%, whose entrenched self-interests stubbornly protect the status quo, despite the impending disaster it portends. We ignore this at our peril. We are in deep trouble. The time to act is NOW, and this book will tell readers WHY and HOW.

Michael Darmody has enjoyed a management and consulting career with public, private and non-profit sector organizations, and has studied and applied the principles of excellent leadership for 40 years. An expert in leadership development, corporate culture and strategy, and coaching, he holds a MBA degree and an executive coaching certification, and has trained in various behavioral assessors. His alarm and disdain for the route capitalism has taken since the 1970's, especially since the 2008 financial crisis, and over the revolving door nepotism between business, lobbyists, government and media that created income inequality, inspired him to write The Boiling Frog: How Complacency and Ignorance Have Created Our Leadership Crisis and What We Can Do About It.