To continue the theme of leadership from the last post, it all reminded me of a series of incidents I had a couple years back when Jim Collins Good to Great was really hot (although it remains pretty darn hot, that thing keeps selling like crazy). The concept from the book that especially caught attention, as most readers will recall, was the notion of Level 5 leaders, those humble and relentless leaders who work like crazy to make the organization successful, while consistently putting the needs of the organization ahead of their own needs and wants. Like most ideas in business, this is an old one (read Drucker, this theme abounds), but Collins wrote beautifully about it.
The thing that struck me, however, was that I had conversations with at least five leaders during one stretch who all claimed that they were Level 5 leaders. In all five cases, these were people who talked relentlessly about themselves and — following the research on how power turns people into self-centered jerks — all were remarkably oblivious to the negative reactions to their leadership style. Indeed, at least two I can think were classic narcissists.
Thus, my hypothesis (which may be wrong, so I would love your reaction): "Leaders who claim that they are Level 5 leaders rarely, if ever, turn out to be Level 5 leaders."
Reactions? Am I being too cynical?
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