I have worked with numerous leadership groups at events across Australia and in Europe in the last few months and discovered an interesting trait.
In exploring the effectiveness of different leaders in different organisations and cultures, I found one consistent barrier to effectiveness in every scenario - EGO.
It appears that in climbing the corporate ladder, those people driven by the power and prestige of the leader's role are actually least effective in that role.
The EGOmaniacs tend to surround themselves with 'yes' people and useless support staff that give them the feeling of confidence and effectiveness. Yet, their staff and subordinates can see through the false persona and the results is lower productivity, lower morale, higher staff turnover.
How can you detect an egomaniac leader? Look for these signs...
1. Egomaniacs have a personal assistant that does mundane tasks that they could do themselves i.e. return phone calls, return emails etc. This is often justified by the phrase 'I am too busy to return calls and emails'. RUBBISH. I spoke with John Tolmie the CEO of Darrell Lea last year and was impressed to hear he operated thousands of stores and factories across the globe without a personal assistant, he writes all his own memos, operates his own diary, no ego, just results!
2. Egomaniacs make random half baked decisions based on the moment rather than exploring the options and making strategic, sustainable decisions. They are also quick to reverse decisions sometimes in minutes; they flip-flop their way to outcomes.
3. Egomaniacs don't accept advice. In fact in the face of good advice they often take the reverse option because they believe that if they accept direction from someone else it undermines their position.
4. Egomaniacs delegate the hard stuff, like terminating employment, giving a harsh performance review, getting rid of a supplier or contractor. They want to win in the popularity stakes and don't want to ruffle any feathers.
So, my advice to you is look out for the ones climbing the ladder in your organisation and either pull them into line, teach them how to lead properly or get them off the bus. Also just take a few minutes to look in the mirror because you may be an egomaniac, the trouble is egomaniacs cant see themselves in the mirror so you may just have to ask for some good honest feedback!
Cheers and GET REAL!
It appears that in climbing the corporate ladder, those people driven by the power and prestige of the leader's role are actually least effective in that role.
The EGOmaniacs tend to surround themselves with 'yes' people and useless support staff that give them the feeling of confidence and effectiveness. Yet, their staff and subordinates can see through the false persona and the results is lower productivity, lower morale, higher staff turnover.
How can you detect an egomaniac leader? Look for these signs...
1. Egomaniacs have a personal assistant that does mundane tasks that they could do themselves i.e. return phone calls, return emails etc. This is often justified by the phrase 'I am too busy to return calls and emails'. RUBBISH. I spoke with John Tolmie the CEO of Darrell Lea last year and was impressed to hear he operated thousands of stores and factories across the globe without a personal assistant, he writes all his own memos, operates his own diary, no ego, just results!
2. Egomaniacs make random half baked decisions based on the moment rather than exploring the options and making strategic, sustainable decisions. They are also quick to reverse decisions sometimes in minutes; they flip-flop their way to outcomes.
3. Egomaniacs don't accept advice. In fact in the face of good advice they often take the reverse option because they believe that if they accept direction from someone else it undermines their position.
4. Egomaniacs delegate the hard stuff, like terminating employment, giving a harsh performance review, getting rid of a supplier or contractor. They want to win in the popularity stakes and don't want to ruffle any feathers.
So, my advice to you is look out for the ones climbing the ladder in your organisation and either pull them into line, teach them how to lead properly or get them off the bus. Also just take a few minutes to look in the mirror because you may be an egomaniac, the trouble is egomaniacs cant see themselves in the mirror so you may just have to ask for some good honest feedback!
Cheers and GET REAL!
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