Quick: When you think of the word “leader,” what comes to mind? Do you think of a person who role models high ideals or someone who gets results by drawing out the best in others?
When we think of the word “leader,” we often think of someone we admire and desire to be more like. Leadership is equated with high integrity, principled action and exceptional results. Ideally, leaders represent the best of humanity; they better the lives of those being led.
While it’s tempting to put the idea of leadership on a pedestal, it’s important to remember that in the wrong hands, leadership becomes massively dangerous. Why? Because leadership involves the application of power, and protecting that power can soon become a leader’s focal point. When that happens, people are sure to be misled.
For over two decades, I’ve designed, developed and delivered leadership development programs for emerging and experienced leaders. When kicking off a leadership program, rather than deify the concept of leadership, I emphasize how being a high-integrity leader requires continuous self-management and self-governance. Leaders must continuously ask themselves, "What will I do with my leadership power?"
Before you can effectively lead others, you’ve got to be a disciplined leader of your own human nature, especially of the natural human tendency toward selfishness.
The Trappings Of Leadership
Nobody starts their leadership journey thinking about how much damage they can do in the world. But leadership is seductive. When you’re in a leadership role, you are constantly getting cues that tell you how special you are. First, not everyone advances into a leadership role, so leaders are comparatively rare. Second, leaders get more behavioral latitude, so they get away with showing up late for meetings, interrupting people or sidestepping company policies. Finally, leaders get bigger titles, bigger workspaces and bigger salaries. Without discipline and self-governance, a leader’s ego can become wildly inflated, and hubris sets in.
Given how much sucking up and special treatment leaders get, should we really be shocked when some come to believe they're special? It's not shocking at all. It's sadly commonplace.
The Leader And The Damage Done
Dangerous leadership is sadly common. Pick up a national newspaper on any given day, and there’s likely to be a featured headline about some damaging leadership fail. Examples include Travis Kalanick, the ex-CEO of Uber, who was forced out after a deluge of scandals; John Stumpf, ex-CEO of Wells Fargo, who was forced to retire after he was perceived as blaming 5,300 employees for opening millions of credit card and deposit accounts without permission; and Elizabeth Holmes, ex-CEO of Theranos, whose gross deceptions contributed to the dissolution of the company.
Dangerous leaders are enabled through follower allegiance. Big-ego leaders need their specialness continuously reinforced, and that requires that followers are, above all, loyal. It feels good to have one’s ego stroked, and, before long, some leaders start surrounding themselves with suck-ups, yes men and sycophants just to keep the pampering going.
It’s a false sort of loyalty, though — the kind of mirage-like loyalty that’s only visible when the leader is present. When the leader walks out the door, so too does the loyalty.
No leader can survive without the confidences of the people who are being led. Followers lose faith in leaders who care more about enlarging their power than their followers’ well-being. Leadership arrogance nearly always leads to follower disloyalty, eventually. History is littered with renegade followers who soured on their leaders’ self-aggrandizement, from Marcus Brutus to John Dean. Woe to the dangerous leader who loses the loyalty of the people being misled!
Signs You Might Be A Dangerous Leader
Given how damaging arrogant leadership can be, it’s important for leaders to be keenly aware of the signs that they might be becoming dangerous leaders. Here are 10 indicators I often share in my leadership programs:
1. You use the word “I” way too much (the Latin word for “ego” is “I”).
2. You use fear and intimidation to get your way.
3. You’re overly preoccupied with your next promotion and the privileges that come with being in your leadership role.
4. You love winning so much that you find yourself having to win every decision, argument and competition.
5. You consider it weak to admit mistakes or failure.
6. You view public shaming as an effective means of punishing people.
7. You have a strong need to be in control of people and situations.
8. You become jealous when others are recognized for their achievements and successes.
9. You play favorites and give special treatment to your most loyal followers.
10. You often regret how you’ve treated (or mistreated) people when you are bent on getting your way.
How Will You Use Your Leadership Power?
You can use your power to get more powerful, or you can use it to empower others. You can focus on bettering people’s lives, or you can exploit people and lord over them to get your way. You can get busy serving others, or you can fixate on having them serve you. What you do with your leadership power really comes down to a simple choice: Do you want to lead, or do you want to rule?
Decide wisely. Your choice will determine your fate, well-being and legacy as a leader.
