Many leaders are passionate individuals, often highly driven by deeply held philosophical convictions or values. This can make them influential but also cause them to lose sight of potential trip wires.
I once worked with a smart and passionate executive, Philippe, from a major American multinational corporation in the medical industry. He was a rising star who had been hired away from a competitor to help the company expand its business internationally. Philippe was an adamant proponent of globalisation; it wasn’t just something he believed in professionally, but also personally. He’d successfully helped another company in the same industry globalise before taking on his new role and he knew it was critical to the long-term success of his new company.
When he started at the firm, he hit the ground running.
He put in place a number of new structures and reporting lines. He reorganised teams and got them to focus outside the US. He also started a large-scale executive education programme to get people out of a domestic business mindset. He travelled to emerging markets to explore expanding global sales and he built successful momentum for the firm’s international expansion. Observing him from the outside, he seemed to be doing all the right things. But other senior leaders in the firm were uncomfortable. His passion, which ignited the interest and imagination of middle-level managers, meant that the middle of the organisation began to outpace those at the top. It wasn’t that the management disagreed with his vision, but they were worried about the speed of the major changes. It didn’t take long before disagreements flared and three years after joining, they parted ways.
So what went wrong?
Philippe had three key traits, widely considered a powerful mix of leadership qualities. He was courageous and action-orientated, able to jump at opportunities when he saw them; he had confidence in his beliefs and stuck to his guns when the going got tough; and he had charisma, which helped gather people behind his vision. But these traits of good leaders hardly scratch the surface and complexity involved in using these skills wisely.
Spontaneity and the ability to spot trends before they happen is a powerful trait. Great entrepreneurs often have this quality and some of them change our world. But this unique ability has to go hand-in-hand with an awareness of the not-so-obvious dangers.
When individuals, especially leaders, have a strongly held value or belief, there is also a danger they will underplay the potential challenges that could get in the way because of their strong value attachment to the outcome.
One of Philippe’s biggest blind spots was that his deeply held beliefs were sometimes in conflict with those of the management team. While he thought he could convince them of his approach using clear data and logic, he did not explore the executives’ values, including their low tolerance for risk.
While purpose is important, it is not enough if the purpose and values of the key stakeholders are in conflict. Leaders need to work to create alignment to allow the changes to take hold and influence results.
Charisma is also a useful tool in the short term, a catalyst to motivate and rally people, but charismatic individuals also have a “push” style of leadership. They are driven by the need to convince others of their mission, and this can obscure the potential obstacles. A “pull” style is also needed to complement the sense of drive to understand the mindset and context of the people you’re working with and detach from the philosophical mandate you think you have.
What could Philippe have done differently?
He assumed early on that the people who’d brought him in would be his supporters. In hindsight, not making assumptions about the political workings of his organisation would have prevented a lot of friction.
Philippe’s personal beliefs should also have been tempered with a layer of mindfulness. Edward de Bono, the author and consultant known for his book Six Thinking Hats, propagates putting on the “Black Hat” in situations where judgements have to be made. The “Black Hat” is a devil’s advocate perspective to spot the difficulties and dangers that could lurk in your assumptions and decisions. It does not mean you abandon your vision, but you take the opposing perspective to proactively spot any potential problems that may be lurking ahead.
Resolve should run hand-in-hand with the ability to step back from the precipice of self-righteousness.
Those with philosophical beliefs or convictions, not just leaders, are prone to rejecting new ways of thinking or disagreeing with anything that challenges their vision.
While beliefs and values can lead to world-changing innovations, they can also lead to ultimate destruction.
One way to avoid falling this is to make sure you have someone who will listen and who hates being on that edge, a devil’s advocate that can help you see the possible pitfalls in your pursuit of greatness. Too much caution or “Black Hat” thinking and nothing much happens, but used in the right doses it can help visionary leaders from going over the edge.
Schon Beechler is a senior affiliate professor of leadership and organisational behaviour at Insead Business School.
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