Tuesday, October 06, 2009

The Narcissistic Leader

Benito Mussolini once rudely kept a member of the Italian ambassadorial corps waiting by his desk while he looked over documents. He finally asked the ambassador to name the most poisonous gas. The ambassador quietly replied, "Incense."

For that moment of truth, the ambassador lost his job.

Beware of leaders who surround themselves with extraordinary signs of adulation. Such worship turns their heads. We often say that they believe their own publicity and in most cases we are correct. These narcissists think they really are so persuasive, perceptive, and deep that they spot things no one else noticed and can, by the force of their magnetic personality, overcome institutional barriers, permanent interests, and ancient resentments.

What is surprising is how few of their associates see the cancer until it is too late. They participate in the grand deception, touting the brilliance of the leader, and later, when all crumbles, wonder how they could have missed the signs.

This is especially the case with charismatic leaders. Examine presidents Truman and Eisenhower versus Kennedy. Although Truman and Eisenhower's associates deeply respected their bosses, they didn't behave as if he represented the Second Coming. There was a sense of humility; a recognition that being highly capable is not the same as being magical. The Kennedy administration took a different route and elevated the expectations of the President's performance to mythic heights. "Camelot" was not merely a PR flack's slogan. It had a large number of true believers and enablers.

They did their hero no good and much harm by feeding the hubris. The best associates both support and challenge. Every leader needs someone who is willing to declare hard truths. Shortly after Harry Truman became president, he got a little lecture from Congressman Sam Rayburn:

I have come down here to talk to you about you. You have got a great many hazards, and one of them is in this White House. I have been watching this thing a long time. I have seen people in the White House try to build a fence around the White House and keep the very people away from the President that he should see. That is one of your hazards. The special interests and the sycophants will stand in the rain a week to see you and will treat you like a king. They'll come sliding in and tell you you're the greatest man alive - but you know and I know you ain't.

That was good advice then and it's good advice now. Look at the inner circle around any leader and ask yourself, "Which one is Sam Rayburn?"

1 comment:

Eclecticity said...

Wonderful post Michael. I recently left an organization that had a chief exec that used the "off with his / head" approach regularly. Nobody lost their heads of course. They were just fired and sent down the memory hole because they displeased him one way or another. He had no Sam Rayburn. Wouldn't want one. Didn't need one. He had a bad habit of threatening to fire people in what he thought were funny jokes. He was extremely insecure but loved to talk about how tough he was. Not too sure that narcissist would apply to him, but I did hear that he too pride in arguing with his mother into the late night hours about things they disagreed about. Not sure what syndrome would describe that sort of thing. He certainly liked the battle. And would do anything to win. I know that for a fact. E.