Why Leaders Fail

By Mark Sanborn, CSP, CPAE Donald Trump, paragon of the real estate world, files for bankruptcy. Richard Nixon, 37th U.S. President, resigns the presidency over the Watergate scandal. Jennifer Capriati, rising tennis star, enters a rehabilitation center for drug addicts. Jim Bakker, renowned televangelist, is convicted of fraud. In the recent past, we've witnessed the public downfall of leaders from almost every area of endeavor—business, politics, religion, and sports. One day they're on top of the heap, the next, the heap's on top of them. Of course, we think that such catastrophic failure could never happen to us. We've worked hard to achieve our well-deserved positions of leadership—and we won't give them up for anything! The bad news is: the distance between beloved leader and despised failure is shorter than we think. Ken Maupin, a practicing psychotherapist and colleague, has built his practice on working with high-performance personalities, including leaders in business, religion, and sports. Ken and I have often discussed why leaders fail. Our discussions have led to the following "warning signs" of impending failure. WARNING SIGN #1: A Shift in Focus This shift can occur in several ways. Often, leaders simply lose sight of what's important. The laser-like focus that catapulted them to the top disappears, and they become distracted by the trappings of leadership, such as wealth and notoriety. Leaders are usually distinguished by their ability to "think big." But when their focus shifts, they suddenly start thinking small. They micro manage, they get caught up in details better left to others, they become consumed with the trivial and unimportant. And to make matters worse, this tendency can be exacerbated by an inclination toward perfectionism. A more subtle leadership derailer is an obsession with "doing" rather than "becoming." The good work of leadership is usually a result of who the leader is. What the leader does then flows naturally from inner vision and character. It is possible for a leader to become too action oriented and, in the process, lose touch with the more important development of self. What is your primary focus right now? If you can't write it on the back of your business card, then it's a sure bet that your leadership is suffering from a lack of clarity. Take the time necessary to get your focus back on what's important. Further, would you describe your thinking as expansive or contractive? Of course, you always should be willing to do whatever it takes to get the job done, but try never to take on what others can do as well as you. In short, make sure that your focus is on leading rather than doing. WARNING SIGN #2: Poor Communication A lack of focus and its resulting disorientation typically lead to poor communication. Followers can't possibly understand a leader's intent when the leader him- or herself isn't sure what it is! And when leaders are unclear about their own purpose, they often hide their confusion and uncertainty in ambiguous communication. Sometimes, leaders fall into the clairvoyance trap. In other words, they begin to believe that truly committed followers automatically sense their goals and know what they want without being told. Misunderstanding is seen by such managers as a lack of effort (or commitment) on the listener's part, rather than their own communication negligence. "Say what you mean, and mean what you say" is timeless advice, but it must be preceded by knowing what you mean! An underlying clarity of purpose is the starting point for all effective communication. It's only when you're absolutely clear about what you want to convey that the hard work of communicating pays dividends. WARNING SIGN #3: Risk Aversion Third, leaders at risk often begin to be driven by a fear of failure rather than the desire to succeed. Past successes create pressure for leaders: "Will I be able to sustain outstanding performance?" "What will I do for an encore?" In fact, the longer a leader is successful, the higher his or her perceived cost of failure. When driven by the fear of failure, leaders are unable to take reasonable risks. They want to do only the tried and proven; attempts at innovation—typically a key to their initial success—diminish and eventually disappear. Which is more important to you: the attempt or the outcome? Are you still taking reasonable risks? Prudent leadership never takes reckless chances that risk the destruction of what has been achieved, but neither is it paralyzed by fear. Often the dance of leadership is two steps forward, one step back. WARNING SIGN #4: Ethics Slip A leader's credibility is the result of two aspects: what he or she does (competency) and who he or she is (character). A discrepancy between these two aspects creates an integrity problem. The highest principle of leadership is integrity. When integrity ceases to be a leader's top priority, when a compromise of ethics is rationalized away as necessary for the "greater good," when achieving results becomes more important than the means to their achievement—that is the moment when a leader steps onto the slippery slop of failure. Often such leaders see their followers as pawns, a mere means to an end, thus confusing manipulation with leadership. These leaders lose empathy. They cease to be people "perceivers" and become people "pleasers," using popularity to ease the guilt of lapsed integrity. It is imperative to your leadership that you constantly subject your life and work to the highest scrutiny. Are there areas of conflict between what you believe and how you behave? Has compromise crept into your operational tool kit? One way to find out is to ask the people you depend on if they ever feel used or taken for granted. WARNING SIGN #5: Poor Self Management Tragically, if a leader doesn't take care of him- or herself, no one else will. Unless a leader is blessed to be surrounded by more-sensitive-than-normal followers, nobody will pick up on the signs of fatigue and stress. Leaders are often perceived to be superhuman, running on unlimited energy. While leadership is invigorating, it is also tiring. Leaders who fail to take care of their physical, psychological, emotional, and spiritual needs are headed for disaster. Think of having a gauge for each of these four areas of your life—and check them often! When a gauge reaches the "empty" point, make time for refreshment and replenishment. Clear your schedule and take care of yourself—it's absolutely vital to your leadership that you continue to grow and develop, a task that can be accomplished only when your tanks are full. WARNING SIGN #6: Lost Love The last warning sign of impending disaster that leaders need to heed is a move away from their first love and dream. Paradoxically, the hard work of leadership should be fulfilling and even fun. But when leaders lose sight of the dream that compelled them to accept the responsibility of leadership, they can find themselves working for causes that mean little to them. They must stick to what they love, what motivated them at the first, to maintain the fulfillment of leadership. To make sure that you stay on the track of following your first love, frequently ask yourself these three questions: Why did I initially assume leadership? Have those reasons changed? Do I still want to lead?
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Heed the Signs The warning signs in life—from stop lights to prescription labels—are there for our good. They protect us from disaster, and we would be foolish to ignore them. As you consider the six warning signs of leadership failure, don't be afraid to take an honest look at yourself. If any of the warnings ring true, take action today! The good news is: by paying attention to these signs and heeding their warnings, you can avoid disaster and sustain the kind of leadership that is healthy and fulfilling for both yourself and your followers.

Rigid leadership? No, he’s great. – Junichiro Koizumi

Junichiro Koizumi, Japan’s former Prime Minister, secured a landslide victory in the Lower House elections on September 11, 2005. This victory proved his leadership was not in a wrong way.

Since he became the President of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), he had persisted in privatization of Japan’s postal services because he deemed national postal services full of inefficiency. However, he was always with difficulties. A significant number of legislators were against the privatization, asserting the right of people who live in rural areas. Even some influential legislators in the LDP were against Koizumi, too. In these difficulties, however, he never listened to others’ opinions. He kept insisting on the necessity of the privatization. At this point, he was considered too rigid.

When his plans to privatize the postal services were rejected in the House of Councilors, he did not hesitate to dissolve the Lower House (the House of Councilors cannot be dissolved). He professed that he would resign the Prime Minister if he could not win in the following elections. By dissolving the Lower House, he wanted to ask the public if they want the privatization or not, i.e., if Japanese people support him or not. The consequence of the elections was… shown above.

It is true that he was extremely rigid, but he was so because he was confident of his privatization plans. He knew what was necessary to improve Japan. He knew he himself must implement it even though he would face difficulties. Rigid leadership can be classified as bad leadership, but I believe his rigidness was proof of his great leadership.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/4232988.stm

"Companies don't know what they are doing..."

http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article.cfm?articleid=1654&CFID=15161194&CFTOKEN=89101502&jsessionid=a83026290160205059a6

Knowledge@Wharton has posted the following interview with Prof. Peter Cappelli, director for the school’s Center for Human Resources, on the topic of Michael Dell once again taking up the CEO position in his company.

I felt this article was relevant to our class because we have spent considerable time in studying and determining the “best practices” for leadership. While we have read many different theories, we understand that there is no single explanation for success or failure only different ways of analysis. In this article, Cappelli points out something that I tend to agree with to a great extent. He states that success is dependent on many factors, including leadership and the business environment. Dell garnered a great deal of success throughout the 80’s and 90’s and has since fallen into a slump. This is isn’t to say that Dell’s leadership is doing something wrong, its just that they have not adjusted to their environment. In fact, Cappelli is certain that Dell is doing the same thing they did earlier, its just not going to work in today’s environment.

As I already mentioned, I tend to agree with his analysis and I’d be interested in seeing what others might this of his assessment.

Response to Analysis Of Text "Blink"

I haven't read the text Blink but this overview was helpful. In my early days in business I was educated to believe that analysis was more important than my gut feel and instincts, which may be premature. As I have got older and better at understanding that finance and other numbers are derived from human judgements as well as hard facts, I've begun to return to gut feel as a valid measure of a situation, particularly when the information is fuzzy and unclear. The sense that "if something walks like a duck and talks like a duck, it probably IS a duck" tells me I should look at the analysis again, because something isn't right.

However, I do reserve my judgements on people for more than initial impressions, as good people are multi-dimensional and 3 mins might tell you how you FEEL, but not whether this is valid.

The book seems to indicate that gut instincts rule the business world. Good job I'm tall......

Philip Anschutz

Good article about another billionaire who tries to maintain a low profile.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/22/business/yourmoney/22phil.html?ex=1334894400&en=d9be84c14d612731&ei=5124&partner=permalink&exprod=permalink

Citadel Hedge Fund Manager

Good article about a leader who keeps a low profile and is committed to the community. However, it appear that is about to change with possible political ambitions. Feels to me like someone who is getting more comfortable with the spotlight as time goes on.

http://www.portfolio.com/executives/features/2007/03/29/Opening-Up-the-Citadel?page=0

Blink: The Antithesis of Strategic Decision-Making

The readings in our last class covered decision-making - from the hidden traps, overconfidence and mental pitfalls that challenge our decision-making abilities to the potential of a devil's advocate to bolster them.

Fresh from these readings, I decided to pick up the book "blink" by Malcolm Gladwell (I think someone may have referenced it briefly at the beginning of the course). A big fan of Gladwell's book The Tipping Point, I had been meaning to read his second best seller. While I haven't quite finished it yet (who has time for personal reading during the semester?!), I recommend the book because it offers a flip side to the idea of strategic decision making. Blink is about the immediate conclusions your mind unconsciously jumps to when you meet someone, watch an ad, interact with others, read a few sentences, etc. The author uses leading neuroscience and psychology research to determine how people make "snap" decisions and how we can use the findings to improve our ability to make better decisions.

One of the interesting observations he makes is about interviewing for jobs and the immediate impressions we make. He wrote that there is significant evidence that shows that height - particularly in men - creates very "positive unconscious associations." He polled nearly half of the companies on the Fortune 500 list to inquire about their CEOs. No one would be surprised to learn that they are overwhelmingly white men; but they are almost all tall. Here's my favorite stat: "In the U.S. population, about 14.5 percent of all men are six feet or taller. Among CEOs of Fortune 500 companies, that number is 58 percent." And..."in the general American population, 3.9 percent of adult men are six foot two or taller;" among his sample that number was nearly 33 percent! So much for the Napoleon Complex!

There are other interesting examples of our unconscious reactions dealing with race and gender, as well as customers and the way they dress. From what I've read so far, the book is an interesting read and perfect for summer travel. It's even a good read when you're holding a sleeping five-month-old baby on a puddle-jumper plane, as was my case last weekend! Enjoy!