McGraw-Hill/Irwin 15-1 Copyright © 2012 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Chapter 15 The Dark Side of Leadership 15-2 "If you put on a blindfold and threw a dart at a map of the world, then there is a 70 percent chance that whatever country the dart lands on is run by some form of dictatorship.” RT Hogan, Hogan Assessment Systems 15-3 Introduction • Bad leadership: individuals who are effective at building teams and getting results through others, but who obtain results that are morally or ethically challenged. • Managerial incompetence: a person’s inability to build teams or get results through others. • Managerial derailment: describes the common reasons why people in positions of authority have difficulties building teams or getting results through others. 15-4 Managerial Incompetence Research shows that 50-75% of managers are incompetent. Yet, organizations and countries survive. Some facts that illustrate this: • Most countries are run by some form of dictatorship. • Many leaders of democratic countries are perceived as being unable to build teams or get results.. • 1,132 CEO’s departured in the first nine months of 2008, up from 700 per year from 2002 to 2004. • Employee satisfaction surveys show over 75% of respondents indicate that their immediate boss is the most stressful part of their job. • Over 70% of M&A fail to yield projected improvements in profitability and synergies • A study reported that only 30% of businesses had “healthy 15-5 and respectful” work climates. Managerial Incompetence Grid Figure 15.1: The Two Dimensions of Managerial Incompetence 15-6 Types of managers • Competent managers: good at building teams and getting results through others. • Results-only managers: good at achieving results, but tend to treat followers so poorly that results tend to be short-lived. • Cheerleaders: people in positions of authority who are people centered and make a point of getting along with everyone. • In-name-only managers: may not be complete failures at building teams and getting results, but they could be a lot better at both. 15-7 Managerial Derailment Research in the area of managerial derailment identified five derailment patterns: • Failure to meet business objectives • An inability to build and lead a team • An inability to build relationships with coworkers • Inability to adapt to new bosses, businesses, cultures, or structures • Inadequate preparation for promotion. 15-8 Alternative Conceptualizations of Leadership Behavior • Alternative conceptualizations are concerned with: – Identifying key leadership behavior. – Determining if these behaviors have positive relationships with leadership success. – Developing those behaviors related to leadership success. • Leadership Grid: Profiles leader behavior on two dimensions: – Concern for people – Concern for production • The most effective leaders are said to have high concern for both people and for production. 15-9 Root causes of managerial incompetence and derailment Figure 15.2: The Root Causes of Managerial Derailment and the Leader–Follower– Situation Mode 15-10 Root causes of managerial incompetence and derailment Table15.2: Bad Leadership, Managerial Incompetence, Managerial Derailment, and Root Causes 15-11 Situational and Follower Factors in Managerial Derailment Factors that can interfere with a person’s ability to be seen as a competent manager include: • New competitive threats, globalization, technology, changing customer, preferences, unreliable suppliers, new government regulations, unfavorable media coverage, natural disasters, and wars. • Mergers, acquisitions, divestitures, bankruptcies, new strategies, reorganizations, and incidents of workplace violence or environmental disasters. • New bosses, peers, direct reports; disengaged or disgruntled employees; disruptive worker cliques; and strikes or dysfunctional turnover. • New jobs, responsibilities, or projects. 15-12 Two points about overwhelming situational and follower factors • The manager can control his or her reactions to overwhelming factors. • Episodic versus chronic incompetence. – Episodic managerial incompetence is when people in positions of authority face extremely tough situational or follower events that temporarily interfere with their ability to build teams and get results. – Chronic managerial incompetence is when taxing situational or follower events permanently disrupt a person’s ability to build teams or get results. • All competent managers experience occasional episodic managerial incompetence; the trick is to limit the frequency and duration of these occurrences. 15-13 Other issues involved in managerial incompetence • Organizational Fit - the degree of agreement between personal and organizational values and beliefs • Situational Awareness - refers to a pilot’s ability to be cognizant of and accurately assess risks before, during, and after a flight • Self-awareness – refers to being aware of their own strengths and shortcomings. Leaders often find ways to either manage or staff around their personal knowledge and skill gaps. • Subject matter expertise - the relevant knowledge or experience a person can leverage to solve a problem. • Team-building Know-how - the degree to which a leader knows the steps and processes needed to build high performing teams. 15-14 Dark-Side Personality Traits Table15.3: Dark-Side Personality Traits Source: Hogan Assessment Systems, The Hogan Development Survey (Tulsa, OK: 2002). 15-15