The View from the Summit - Part Two

Session 2: Jim Collins author of Good to Great and How the Mighty Fall.

“Greatness is largely a matter of conscious choice and discipline.”

Series of Stages in Failure:

Great -->Good -->Mediocre -->Bad -->Irrelevant -->Gone

There's an analogy between sick organizations and people who have cancer. Both are already sick on the inside, but still look strong on the outside. The disease may be well advanced before any signs of its presence become obvious.

Stage 1: Hubris born of success: Outrageous arrogance that inflicts suffering on the innocent.

Stage 2: Undisciplined pursuit of more that allows growth to exceed capacity.

Stage 3: Denial of risk & peril: warning signs are denied and a culture of denial takes hold.

Stage 4: Grasping for salvation:

Stage 5: Capitulation: It’s over; capital is squandered.

As Collins was discussing the stages of organizational decline, I couldn't help but think of the parallels with individual derailment.

Stage I: Failure of Self-Awareness
Leaders on the road to derailment have an acute lack of self-awareness. Knowing ourselves and our inner thoughts informs us of the needs, desires, hopes and moods of others that we might respond appropriately.

This self-awareness parallels emotional intelligence. It involves empathy, consideration and attentiveness to employees' interests. Derailing leaders seem oblivious to how their behavior impacts others and the resulting failure to build a strong alignment alliance. They have huge blindspots and can’t see beyond their own understanding of their personal truth.

Stage II: Hubris: Pride before the Fall
Power provides one of the most revealing tests of a person’s character. While a failure of character manifests itself in many ways, arrogance stands as the most self-destructive.

Just as humility seems to be at the epicenter of leadership effectiveness, arrogance is commonly at the root of a leader’s undoing. Arrogance is the "mother of all derailers."

Arrogant leaders seem to eschew feedback that's beneficial to any leader. They become “truth-starved.”

Stage III: Missed Early Warning Signals
Like people who ignore blatant warning signals and cross railroads in front of a train, derailment signs are usually there, but not heeded.

Otherwise-talented leaders don't see the signals of subtle but persistent feedback about their inner state, or other's diminishing confidence in them.

Early warning signs should have jarred their attention to avoid the danger ahead. Instead, these distracted leaders barrel ahead toward the inevitable crash.

Stage IV: Rationalization
When it finally becomes apparent that a leader is losing his or her constituents' confidence, defenses are heightened. A siege mentality takes over, and the leader starts to rationalize.

In Stage IV the leader isolates himself and becomes increasing insulated from the information that could either fend off disaster greatly limit the damage.

The most damning consequence is that derailing leaders lie to themselves. Some may even believe, “I'm too important to fail.”

The derailing leader twists data to fit their world view. In an attempt to maintain psychological equilibrium, the derailing leader believes the lie, despite many warning signs.

Stage V: Derailment
Derailment is not inevitable, but without attention to development, it is probable. Just like the fall of mighty organizations, derailment is a process that proceeds in predictable stages.

Ignoring the early warning signs puts us in great peril.

As with organizational failure, the steps toward derailment are largely self-inflicted. Derailment is more the result of what a leader does to him or her self than it is what happens to them.

Are there subtle warning signs that you're ignoring?

Are you isolating yourself from feedback and loyal criticism?

Are you taking a step onto the path that leads to derailment?

Is your internal GPS system telling you to "make a safe and legal u-turn?"

Will you heed that inner voice?