Am getting
there.....the last chapter !
The 5th Temptation
of CEO
The CEOs
who resist the temptation to protect their status of being popular with their
direct reports, to make correct decisions and to create harmony sometimes fail
because even if they are willing to cultivate productive conflict, their people
may not be willing to do so. Why not ? Because the CEO gives in to the final temptation
: The desire for invulnerability.
Self Analysis
Some
questions that will help identify your susceptibility to this temptation. ‘Choosing
invulnerability over trust’...ye mighty & despair !!
1. Do you have a hard time admitting when
you are wrong ?
2. Do you fear that your direct reports
want your job ?
3. Do you try to keep your greatest
weaknesses secret from your direct reports?
CEOs are
relatively powerful people. Being vulnerable with their peers and reports is
not a comfortable idea. No one loves admitting being wrong, but some people
hate it. They mistakenly believe that they lose credibility if their people
feel too comfortable challenging their ideas.
No matter
how much these CEOs encourage productive conflict their people do not feel safe
to enter the fray. As a result the reports position themselves around the
inferred opinion of the CEO and conflict with one another only when it is
politically expedient.
Great CEOs
don’t lose face in the slightest when they are wrong and admit it, because they
know who they are, they know why they are the CEO, and they realise that the
organisation’s results, not the appearance of being smart, are their ultimate
measure f success. They know the best way to get results is to put their
weaknesses on table and invite people to help them minimise those weaknesses.
CEOs who
understand this concept intellectually but cannot behaviouralise it sometimes
symbolically admit mistakes and weaknesses. This proves counter-productive as
it reinforces the notion that the CEO is unwilling to put real weaknesses on
table. Overcoming this temptation requires a degree of fear and pain that many
CEOs are unwilling to tolerate.
Simple Advice for the
CEOs
As a CEO,
the greatest level of trust that you can give – actively encourage your people
to challenge your ideas, i.e. trust them with your reputation and ego. They
will return it with respect and honesty, and a desire to be vulnerable amongst
peers !
CEOs who focus on results more than
status, accountability more than popularity, clarity more than certainty,
productive conflict more than harmony, and trust more than invulnerability can
still fail, but only if they are thwarted by competitive and market pressures
that are largely out of their control !!
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