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      KEYZINE: An e-zine for LEADERS:
     ABOUT THE PEOPLE PART OF BUSINESS
                 Volume 65, August 2006
    Publisher: © Key Associates, 2006
              ISSN # 1545-8873
           http://www.mkkey.com

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This Issue: On "The Dark Side of Leadership"

This is a monthly electronic magazine for anyone 
who wants to be a better leader, coach, facilitator, 
or simply, to tune up their people skills.  It is a 
complimentary publication, devoted to the next
evolution of Quality Thinking.

View Earlier Issues --See our new website (http://www.mkkey.com) 

Contents:

"What management needs to do to motivate people 
is to stop demotivating them."
                  - W. Edwards Deming
"Ethics is all about spiritually healthy 
people in socially harmonious relationships."
                   - Tom Morris 

"When did I make my greatest hiring mistake?  
When I put intelligence and energy ahead of 
morality."
                  - Michael Blumenthal, former CEO, Unisys 

“Enough about me.  Now let's hear what you think about me.”
                 - Cartoon portraying a narcissist

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WHAT'S HOT IN LEADERSHIP
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ATTENDING TO YOUR OWN MENTAL HEALTH
AND EMOTIONAL STABILITY.

KNOWING YOUR STRENGTHS AND SURROUNDING 
YOURSELF WITH LEADERS WHO AUGMENT THESE 
ABILITIES AND OFFSET YOUR WEAKNESSES.

SEEKING CREDIBLE FEEDBACK, FOR THE 
PURPOSE OF IMPROVING.

SELF IMPROVEMENT, period.

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MAINTAINING YOURSELF AS A LEADER
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In earlier issues, we have examined the qualities 
of the new leader:  Steward, Systems Thinker, 
Learner, Visionary, Values-driven, Humanistic, 
a Coach/Mentor, Teacher.   Yet many leaders 
stumble, even if they possess these traits, due 
to negative qualities--e.g., they are impatient, 
manipulative, egocentric, dominating, or critical 
of others.  They are often loners, who do not 
understand the importance of relationships, nor 
do they know how to build and maintain them.  
Teamwork suffers.  But the numbers (financials) 
are often good.

If this describes you, please get help--coaching, 
counseling, training.  Seek feedback from credible 
sources, then do not kill the messenger.  And 
surround yourself with supervisors who are "people" 
persons, then don't disempower them.

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FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
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How do we prevent hiring "bad" leaders? 

Hire mainly for leadership skills--not just technical skill 
and business knowledge.

The interview is critical.  Narcissists and psychopaths 
interview well.  Likeability is the poorest predictor of 
leadership ability and the best predictor of getting hired.
Look instead for candidates who are emotionally well-adjusted.

Kouzes & Posner (2003) describe the virtues of a 
good leader from the perspective of those led:

a.  Integrity
b.  Decisiveness
c.  Competence

We rarely assess evidence of (a) and (b).  Consider 
consulting former direct reports, not the HR department.

Yet Hogan & Kaiser (2005) tell us that failure to hire 
well has less to do with the lack of good qualities than
the presence of undesirable ones.  Read on...

 

Are there tools that help screen out candidates with 
undesirable qualities?

Yes, I've learned of an instrument.  Hogan & Hogan (1997) 
have developed an inventory of the 11 key dimensions 
of the dark side, using the DSM-IV Axis II personality 
disorders as a guide.  It does require their certification and 
licensure to administer.  Neither high scores nor low 
scores on the dimensions below are desirable.      

DIMENSION  AXIS II DISORDER
Excitable   Borderline (emotional outbursts, volatility)
Cautious    Avoidant
Skeptical  Paranoid
Reserved   Schizoid (poor communicator, insensitive)
Leisurely Passive-aggressive
Bold Narcissistic (unable to admit mistakes)
Mischievous Antisocial/psychopathic (bright, manipulative, deceitful, cunning, exploitive)
Colorful Histrionic (impulsive, attention-seeking, manages by crisis)
Imaginative Schizotypal (over-the-top visioning, erratic decision-making)
Diligent Obsessive-compulsive (intolerant, over-controlling)
Dutiful Dependent (indecisive, too concerned about pleasing others)

                                               - p. 71, Hogan & Kaiser, 2005.
                         
                         
                          

Our CEO is an aloof micromanager.  And this 
is not the first leader I've seen who is like this.

Studies give estimates that 50 to 70 or 75% of leaders 
are loners--they tend to be independent cowboys (Hagberg, 1966).  
They have a high need for autonomy and like to 
be in control.  As a result, they are poor communicators 
(exactly what a leader most needs to be--a communicator).

In advanced stages, this egocentricity and self-
importance keeps them from hearing feedback and 
being objective about their strengths and weaknesses.  
Since the world does not exist beyond them, they 
create a "survival of the fittest " culture.

 

I am afraid of the reception I will get, if I point out 
that our "emperor has no clothes." 

Reasonably so.  Be wary.  Ask, "If I knew something 
that could help you be more successful, would you like 
to hear it?"  Await clearance.  

Actually, this is why consultants are often called in.

Chris Argyris (1991) talks about how difficult it is for 
smart people to learn.  They get into "Defensive Reasoning," 
wherein it is more important to appear to "be right" 
and to point the blame in another direction.  They need to 
learn the same skills that effective organizations use: 
collect data, analyze it and test inferences.  Top-level 
managers must first learn to change their defensive behavior, 
and learn how to learn.

 

All of us make mistakes.  Does this make us bad leaders? 

Stephen Covey (1992) speaks of leaders trying to talk 
themselves out of things they behaved themselves into.  
Better to own it and apologize when you make a mistake, 
then try to set if on the right path.  Don't duck it.  
If you have broken an agreement, remake one you can keep.

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EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITIES
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An educational presentation on the strong link 
between personality and bad leadership
http://www.orbit.ucf.edu/leadership/Buckner-DarkSidePresentation.pdf#search=%22dark%20side%20of%20leadership%22

Interview with Harvard professors. Ronald A. Heifetz 
and Marty Linsky on the dark side of leadership 
and change
http://www.computerworld.com/managementtopics/management/story/0,10801,71589,00.html

Former Keyzines on related topics:
Volume 1, April 2001- Leadership
Volume 13, April 2002 - Trust & Integrity
Volume 16, July 2002 - Dealing with Difficult People
Volume 25, April 2003 - When Enough is Not Enough
Volume 34, January 2004 - Ethics

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OTHER USEFUL WEBSITES 
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Video, white paper, 12 checkpoints for making the right decision
http://www.hoganassessments.com/

Employee assessment consultants
http://www.business.com/directory/human_resources/workforce_management/employee_assessments_and_evaluations/consulting_services/

Tom Heuerman [tomheu@cableone.net] has ezines 
related to the dark side of leadership:

Twelve steps for Leaders
http://www.amorenaturalway.com/pamphlets/detail.asp?ID=63

Old Villains and New Heroes
http://www.amorenaturalway.com/pamphlets/detail.asp?ID=79

Hollow Men
http://www.amorenaturalway.com/pamphlets/detail.asp?ID=88

Ethical Leadership
http://www.amorenaturalway.com/pamphlets/detail.asp?ID=123

Key Associates (http://www.mkkey.com) offers

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ARTICLES/PUBLICATIONS                              
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Argyris, Chris.  "Teaching Smart People How to Learn."  
Harvard Business Review, May-June, 1991, 99-109.

Covey, Stephen R. Principle-Centered Leadership.  
Free Press, 1992.

Hagberg, Richard interviewed by Linda Grant,  
"Rambos in Pinstripes: Why So Many CEOs are 
Lousy Leaders,"  Fortune, June 4, 1996, 147.

Hogan, R. & Hogan, B.  Hogan Development Survey 
Manual.  Tulsa, OK: Hogan Assessment Systems, 
1997.

Hogan, Robert & Kaiser, Robert B.  "What We 
Know About Leadership," Review of General 
Psychology, 2005, 9(2), 169-180.

Kouzes, James M. & Posner, Barry Z.  The Leadership
Challenge.  Jossey-Bass, 2003.

Kouzes, James M. & Posner, Barry Z.  Credibility: 
How Leaders Gain and Lose It, Why People Demand It.  
Jossey-Bass, 2003.