Why Leaders Lose Their Way by Hbr
RESEARCH & IDEAS
Why Leaders Lose Their Way
Published: June 6, 2011 Author: Bill George Dominique Strauss-Kahn is just the latest in a string of high-profile leaders making the perp walk. What went wrong, and how can we learn from it? Professor Bill George says these are not bad people; rather, they've lost their moral bearings. To stay grounded executives must prepare themselves to confront enormous complexities and pressures. Key concepts include: • Leaders who move up have greater freedom to control their destinies, but also experience increased pressure and seduction. • Leaders can avoid these pitfalls by devoting themselves to personal development that cultivates their inner compass, or True North. This requires reframing their leadership from being heroes to being servants of the people they lead. believe their elevated status puts them above the law? • Was this the first time they did something inappropriate, or have they been on the slippery slope for years? In these ongoing revelations, the media, politicians, and the general public frequently characterize these leaders as bad people, even calling them evil. Simplistic notions of good and bad only cloud our understanding of why good leaders lose their way, and how this could happen to any of us. Leaders who lose their way are not bad people; rather, they lose their moral bearings, often yielding to seductions in their paths. Very few people go into leadership roles to cheat or do evil, yet we all have the capacity for actions we deeply regret unless we stay grounded. standards that previously governed their conduct, which can be bizarre and even illegal.
Very few people go into leadership to cheat or do evil.
As Novartis chairman Daniel Vasella (HBS PMD 57) told Fortune magazine, "for many of us the idea of being a successful manager—leading the company from peak to peak, delivering the goods quarter by quarter—is an intoxicating one. It is a pattern of celebration leading to belief, leading to
Why Leaders Lose Their Way
Published: June 6, 2011 Author: Bill George Dominique Strauss-Kahn is just the latest in a string of high-profile leaders making the perp walk. What went wrong, and how can we learn from it? Professor Bill George says these are not bad people; rather, they've lost their moral bearings. To stay grounded executives must prepare themselves to confront enormous complexities and pressures. Key concepts include: • Leaders who move up have greater freedom to control their destinies, but also experience increased pressure and seduction. • Leaders can avoid these pitfalls by devoting themselves to personal development that cultivates their inner compass, or True North. This requires reframing their leadership from being heroes to being servants of the people they lead. believe their elevated status puts them above the law? • Was this the first time they did something inappropriate, or have they been on the slippery slope for years? In these ongoing revelations, the media, politicians, and the general public frequently characterize these leaders as bad people, even calling them evil. Simplistic notions of good and bad only cloud our understanding of why good leaders lose their way, and how this could happen to any of us. Leaders who lose their way are not bad people; rather, they lose their moral bearings, often yielding to seductions in their paths. Very few people go into leadership roles to cheat or do evil, yet we all have the capacity for actions we deeply regret unless we stay grounded. standards that previously governed their conduct, which can be bizarre and even illegal.
Very few people go into leadership to cheat or do evil.
As Novartis chairman Daniel Vasella (HBS PMD 57) told Fortune magazine, "for many of us the idea of being a successful manager—leading the company from peak to peak, delivering the goods quarter by quarter—is an intoxicating one. It is a pattern of celebration leading to belief, leading to