The Nebulous Kingdom

Asshole CEOs

2/27/2013

Comments

 
I've been thinking about leadership lately, and the stark contrast between Jim Collins' humble "Level 5 leader" and the success of Steve Jobs.  And while Collins' perspective has personal resonance for me, I have to conclude that there's more nuance here.

Here's a data point.  When I did my dissertation, I found that if you exhibit a low level of responsiveness in an organization, this negatively impacted the degree to which people trusted you - except if you were more senior.  If you're more senior, they assume you're busy rather than being a prick.  Somewhat unfortunately, people with lower status tend to cut people of higher status a lot of slack.   

Also - and follow me here - trust in leadership is based on competence as well as benevolence, people gauge competence by the maximum instance experienced rather than the median, their memory is more vivid when cortisol (stress) levels are higher, and abrasiveness can undoubtedly be effective in the short run in driving outcomes.  In short, being an asshole can be impressively productive and memorably so.

I've found that leaders who are assholes but supremely competent or brilliant tend to be loved by their staff.  Phrases used include "Challenging but rewarding", "The cost of genius", "It's not personal", "I've learned so much", and "I wouldn't take back the experience for the world."  There's a belief that the leaders wouldn't have accomplished so much if they didn't knock down some walls.  And A-players seek steep learning curves and development opportunities above all.

So does that lead us to the somewhat repelling notion that being an asshole is okay if you're really good at what you do?  Well, here's the rub:  This is true only if you're really that good, if you're right all the time, and the best strategy over the time horizon in scope is really to knock down walls rather than build bridges.  Maybe Steve Jobs was, but it's a rare enough confluence that I wouldn't put my eggs in that basket.

Comments
    Picture

    Author

    I'm interested in uncertainty, time, trust, consistency, strategy, economics, empathy, philosophy, education, technology, story-telling, and fractals.
    Contact

    Archives

    May 2016
    October 2015
    September 2015
    June 2015
    January 2015
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    February 2013
    December 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    August 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012
    May 2012
    April 2012
    March 2012
    February 2012
    January 2012
    December 2011
    November 2011
    October 2011
    September 2011
    July 2011
    June 2011
    May 2011
    April 2011
    March 2011
    February 2011
    January 2011
    December 2010
    November 2010
    October 2010
    September 2010
    August 2010
    July 2010
    June 2010
    May 2010
    April 2010
    March 2010
    February 2010
    January 2010
    December 2009
    November 2009

    RSS Feed


    My Favorite Curators


    Email newsletters

    Edge.org
    John Mauldin
    STRATFOR
    Futurity.org
    BPS Research Digest
    Domain-B.com
    FORA.tv
    PopTech!
    PIMCO Investment Outlooks
    GMO Client Reports
    Big Think
    Commonwealth Club
    Someecards.com
    MRN Research Papers
    Chicago Booth eNewsletters
    McKinsey Quarterly
    Boldtype / Artkrush
    Singularity University
    Charlie Rose
    The Aspen Institute


    Feeds

    WNYC
    Radiolab

    This American Life
    Freakonomics Radio
    The Moth
    Chicago Booth Podcast
    The Atlantic Council
    The Memory Palace
    TED.com
    Foreign Affairs
    The Ideas Project
    Long Now Foundation
    The School of Life
    Letters of Note

    Periodicals

    The Economist
    The Wall Street Journal
    The New Yorker
    The New York Times
    Wired Magazine
    The Atlantic

    Other Websites

    Oaktree Capital Memos
    LSE Public Lectures
    Bubblegeneration
    Becker-Posner Blog
    Eric Von Hippel
    NetAge
    John Seely Brown
    Malcolm Gladwell
    John Hagel
    HBR – The Big Shift
    LookBook.nu
    Robert Shiller
    Paul Graham
    Frontline PBS
    Royal Society for the Arts
    Blake Masters

    Humor

    Best of Craigslist
    Texts from Last Night
    FMyLIfe
    MyLifeisAverage
    Lamebook
    The Onion


    Categories

    All