Prester John - Faraway Savior
Prester John was a mighty Christian king who lived outside of Europe. Nobody knew exactly where he was though. He was rich and powerful, but hard to pin down.
Stories of Prester John were widespread through medieval Europe. They started during The Crusades once the Crusader States had fallen on hard times. They needed some help. They looked for a savior.
So, what did people know about Prester John? A lot of big vague ideas, but not a lot of details. He was a great and mighty king / priest / warrior who had defeated the Saracens in many battles.
He might have been a direct descendant of one of the Three Magi who visited Jesus as a baby and brought him gold, frankincense, and myrrh. His kingdom might even have been home to the Tower of Babel and The Fountain of Youth.
A letter circulated widely around the European kingdoms, which bragged about his wealth and military prowess and mightiness.
A small excerpt:
“I, Prester John, am the Lord of Lords, and I surpass all the kings under heaven in wealth, virtue, and power.”
Where exactly he lived was unclear.
At first, they thought he was maybe in India. Or maybe further out in Central Asia. Once Europeans visited those places and didn’t find him, they concluded he must be in Africa.
He was always beyond the edge of the map, beyond any actual experience of any Europeans at the time. But he was out there.
One thing you can be sure of is that he never existed.
There never was a Prester John.
He was just a myth.
His legend tells more about what people wanted to believe than any actual history. His legend is a hodgepodge of stereotypes about the east, full of riches and exotic creatures. People hoped that such a king existed and wanted to help them with their problems.
The legend would continue to grow and evolve as Medieval Christendom grew and evolved into Early Modern Europe, and this story would accompany Portuguese sailors when they headed east during the Age of Discovery.
The legend of Prester John filled a need for people who were living in desperate times and hoping for someone to save them. But wishin’ and hopin’ ain’t no kind of strategy.
When boards look for a new CEO, they often seek an outsider to set the company straight.
When the CEO wants to replace a member of the senior management team, they bring in somebody from the outside to shake things up.
When senior management looks for someone to turn around a struggling division or head up the team for a new acquisition, they know exactly where to look, and that’s anywhere but here.
Already working for the company, knowing its customers, products, and history - all of that is an immediate disqualification for any important leadership post at many companies.
“You know who’d be great to lead this team / project / initiative? Not anybody who works here. Our guys are all a bunch of knuckleheads. We need somebody from somewhere else.”
-Management (whatever management is a rung or two above you)
The combination of wishful thinking and hoping for a savior from afar has made many a search committee set its sights over the fence, over the heads of the current team.
Of course, sometimes this might be the right call. If the company is an expert in X and needs to move to Y, then bringing in somebody with expertise in Y might be a good idea. But wanting magic and insisting on someone who has been around magic, doesn’t always mean that the magic will transfer.
Just because someone was at a company whose stock went from $1 to $100 doesn’t mean they were the reason (or really even a significant factor) for that huge success. But you can guarantee that they’ll claim they were the key to success. Given that they probably have great hair, the hiring team will believe them and offer them double the pay package of anyone on the existing team.
Don’t worry, once they’ve failed to meet the inflated expectations a year or two after bamboozling the company, they’ll leave with a most generous golden parachute too. It will be legendary.
