“ Whether you work with alpha males or are an alpha yourself, this book helps you change nonproductive behaviors, increase performance, and improve your life.” — from the foreword by Marshall Goldsmith

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aLPha MaLes are the tough minded, hard driving, highly skilled individuals that populate our fast paced, pressure filled lives — from the starting bench at ballgames to the top of Fortune 500 companies. And, whether you are an alpha or work for one, a new book shows that the very traits that breed success can also carry serious, flipside risks.

Alpha Male Syndrome (Harvard Business School Press; October 10, 2006), by Kate Ludeman, PhD and Eddie Erlandson, MD, draws on the authors’ own work with top executives (including Michael Dell, Boston Red Sox CEO Larry Lucchino, Vice Admiral Keith Lippert of the Defense Logistics Agency, and eBay’s CEO Meg Whitman) to identify four types of alpha males and the risks that could befall them on their journey to the top.

Ludeman and Erlandson’s interest in alphas grew from their own personalities, passions, and life experience.

Kate grew up in South Texas learning to beat the bullies on the fourth grade playground. After graduating as one of only eight females in her 4,000 member engineering class, Kate’s alpha sense of mission was activated by the death of a close friend in Vietnam. She went to work for Control Data in Saigon, living with a Vietnamese family for two years and experiencing the ravages of war firsthand. After discovering that people were faking so-called “pacification data” to get their USAID-sponsored projects to look good, she fought tenaciously to make this known at higher levels, only to be brushed off. It was an early lesson in both the limits of alpha power and its abuses.

Back in the United States, Kate entered the corporate world and gained a reputation for “turning jerks into nice guys” at company after company. The key was two-fold —training as an engineer gave her a knack for turning soft information about human relationships into the metrics-oriented language that alphas understood. She used that hard data to spell out the risks of their current behavior, the bottom-line benefits of changing, and a way to measure their progress. The other component was standing up to alphas in a firm but decidedly not defensive way, earning their respect and ultimately, their cooperation.

Erlandson was a vascular surgeon in Michigan with two young children, a wife, two extra jobs, and a position running his son’s Special Olympic basketball team when he decided to embrace a personal challenge and take up marathons. After fifty completes, he decided he needed a bigger goal and started ultra-marathons, pounding his body against pavement for brutal hundred mile races during which he ignored all medical advice from the hospital where he served as chief of staff. Finally, stress fractures and a broken leg forced him to stop. (continued on next page)

ContACtJulie Devoll, Senior Publicist

Harvard Business School Press

617-783-7471

jdevoll@hbsp.harvard.edu

Too Many PeoPLe facing an alpha boss bemoan the fact to anyone who will listen and often approach the relationship by responding in one of two ways—either they cave in and play the victim or they take the opposite tactic, turning every interaction into an ongoing battle in a long war.

Ludeman and Erlandson say both approaches are dead wrong. In Alpha Male Syndrome they offer the following advice.

Dysfunctional alpha males (and females) are incomplete. You have to make up for their flaws using your abilities. If your alpha leader doesn’t learn to change, become the leader in his place. Forget about launching an effort to change him. Instead, focus on changing what you can control—your own behavior around him.

(continued from page 1)

In 1999, Ludeman and Erlandson met and found that they smoothed over one another’s alpha tendencies. They married, moved cross-country, and tried to retire to the beach.

“Like true alphas we went too far,” the authors recount. “After a year of drastically reduced work levels, we lacked appropriate outlets for our healthy alpha achievement drives. So, we built a consulting firm that helps alphas and their companies thrive.”

Based on their work and years of experience, the authors developed an assessment tool that can identify the four types of alphas. They are:

CommAnDersNatural leaders who know how to get people to do things.

VisionAries Those who see the big picture and dream the impossible dream.

strAtegists Those who excel in abstract thinking, problem solving, and planning.

exeCutorsDogged implementers who delve into details and drive accountabilities.

By understanding each type’s nuances, alphas can transform themselves into more effective leaders. And those who work with alphas can transform nightmare work groups into collaborative dream teams.

Alpha Male Syndrome will pull readers in at first for the sheer satisfaction of finding out where they fit on the alpha map. Once inside, they will discover a guidebook for pinpointing the particular health dangers they may face as alpha males and how to combat them, while managing both their business and their personal lives to their best advantage. It also has personal advice for company leaders as they face the pressure to compete while absorbing the cost of unhealthy workplace relationships.

IS yOur BOSS aN alPHa Male?

ruLes of engAgement

CommAnD the Present moment bY Your seLf-PossessionAdopt practices of mindfulness, stress-reduction resets, reframing, and overcoming fear, in order to keep your wits in real time and stay focused when engaged with an alpha. Prepare meticulously, strive mightily.

go into bAttLe onLY with AuthentiC strengthWork on your inner game, set your goals for the collective good, and decide your boundaries—if he yells or abuses, tell him you won’t accept that behavior, stay present, and wait.

Conquer YourseLf to win the wArHe should change, but only you can, so change, and for the better. Ask, how do I create this problem, what’s this feedback telling me, what can I learn, where’s the good in him, in them, in this, in me? Never take it personally.

Treat it like a game, or a test, or following a plan, but focus on the process, and be efficient in your moves.

neVer reAssure, neVer exPLAin, simPLY stAteExplanations and assurances seem like alibis to him, they bring him down on you like a policeman.

neVer get DefensiVeNever get defensive. Never get defensive. Never get defensive.

enD ConfLiCtAlphas invite conflict, and you cannot win the battle with competitive alphas, therefore end conflict. Remain engaged by listening and performing, until peace descends (this means you’ve won, but he doesn’t know you fought).

the CrowD is DeADLY, get him ALone to winIn groups the alpha pursues domination, sacrificing anybody for effect. In the group, strive for the best team contribution you can make. Create one-on-one situations to engage him directly, especially with a contrary view.

how to engAge

ControL his three fLAws with Your CuriositY, CLAritY, AnD bounDAriesThe alpha’s three great flaws are: inappropriate competi-tiveness, uncontrollable impatience, and uncontainable anger. Your qualities can neutralize them all. Remember he is flawed, but you are growing with every interaction.

ALwAYs be CuriousSeek to learn his core message. Even as he shoots you down, engage him with true curiosity, and seek out his mean-ings. Curiosity brings learning to you, protects you from your defensiveness, and makes you a moving target he can’t pin down.

KeeP Your DuCKs in (eLegAnt) formAtionTake thought before hasty statements; keep your mind open even as you speak; be precise; avoid tangents. Demonstrate your intelligence, don’t display sloppy thinking.

summArizePause to summarize his stated content, detect and confirm his noble purpose.

finD something to Agree with but mAKe no fALse AgreementsAlphas pounce on disagreement as their prey. Diffuse this possibility by offering true agreement for his virtuous intentions, but be true to your ideas.

LinKListen well and link your position to points you agree with. Confirm his view and add your own, build on his ideas, until your position is cleverly expressed in his terms. Connect, draw closer, get inside, never differ, always link.

Material adapted from Alpha Male Syndrome by Kate Ludeman and Eddie Erlandson, Harvard Business School Press.

IS yOur BOSS aN alPHa Male?

yES No aLPha sTrengThs

No matter what, I don’t give up until I reach my end goal.

I always say exactly what I think.

When I play a game, I always like to win.

I have no problem challenging people.

I expect the best from the people I supervise and help them deliver.

I make the decisions I believe are correct, even when I know other people don’t agree.

I have strong opinions on issues I know about.

I seldom have any doubts about my ability to be a leader.

When leading others, I set high performance standards.

Even when I am successful, I always think about things that could have been done better.

yES No aLPha risks

I believe that my value is defined by the results I achieve.

I don’t care if my actions hurt people’s feelings, if that’s what’s required to produce results.

When people disagree with me, I often treat it as a challenge or an affront.

I tend to believe others need to change more than I do.

If I have a good idea and I am asked to hold off and listen to inferior ideas, I can become visibly annoyed and agitated.

Sometimes I lose control of my temper and visibly express my anger.

People say I become curt, brusque, or frustrated when I have to repeat myself.

I have strong opinions about most things, even if I don’t know much about them.

Many of my work relationships have a competitive undertone.

I’ve been told I don’t listen as well as I should.

are you an alpha?tAKe the test

If most of your responses to Questions 1-10 were yes, you are probably an alpha with many of the strengths that make alphas such dynamic and influential leaders.

If half or more of your responses to Questions 11-20 were yes, you most likely have some alpha risks that deserve your attention. If you have seven or eight yeses in that group, it’s very likely that your alpha liabilities are already limiting your success. With nine or ten positive responses, you might well be on the brink of trouble.

Material adapted from Alpha Male Syndrome by Kate Ludeman and Eddie Erlandson, Harvard Business School Press.

FOr A mOrE prECISE TOOl, vISIT: www.worthethic.com

no alpha women?

There are, of course, women who fit the profiles identified in Alpha Male Syndrome. Below, the authors describe why they chose to focus almost exclusively on men in their book.

A great many women in leadership positions do possess the fundamental traits that define alphas. We decided to focus on males for two primary reasons.

First, there are more of them. In general, men are more likely than women to have alpha characteristics and the business world contains many more alpha males than alpha females, especially in the top executive ranks. In our work as consultants, we noted this disparity in every company we have worked with and the observations were confirmed by research data. Studies on the infamous glass ceiling offer further evidence of the male-female ratio at the highest corporate levels. A survey by the Catalyst organization, for instance, found that while women hold 50.3 percent of all management and professional positions, only 7.9 percent of the top earners are in the Fortune 500, and only 1.4 percent of the CEOs are women.

The second reason for focusing on alpha males is that a great deal of wreckage is caused by boys behaving badly. In our research, men scored much higher than women on measures of the alpha risk factors which our book explores. What does this mean? In short, alpha females get angry, but they are rarely as belligerent as alpha males; they like to win, and they set aggressive goals for themselves and their teams, but they’re not as intimidating or as authoritarian as their male counterparts; and while they can be fiercely competitive, they’re less likely than alpha males to use ruthless tactics or to see peers and colleagues as rivals who have to be destroyed.

Throughout the book, we will call upon our personal observations and scientific studies to highlight the differences between male and female alphas, but our primary focus is on the male of the species because it is there, in the testosterone zone, that the alpha syndrome appears in its most troublesome form.

Material adapted from Alpha Male Syndrome by Kate Ludeman and Eddie Erlandson, Harvard Business School Press.

about the Authors

Kate Ludeman, Phd, is a widely recognized executive coach who has worked with over a thousand CEOs and senior executives on every continent in industries ranging from high-tech to pharmaceuticals to consumer products. With her extensive experience and expertise, Kate offers innovative and practical skills to strong business leaders and those who work with them. Having trained in

both engineering and psychology, she has a unique approach that helps leaders maximize performance by combining analytic skills and emotional intelligence.

Formerly the vice president of human resources for a high-tech company in Silicon Valley, she is the founder and CEO of Worth Ethic Corporation. Kate has been the featured speaker at numerous business forums, has appeared on more than a hundred television and radio shows, and has hosted a portion of ABC affiliate programs in Dallas and San Francisco. Her previous books include, The Worth Ethic, Earn What You’re Worth, The Corporate Mystic, and Radical Change, Radical Results.

eddie erLandson, md, is an executive vice president at Worth Ethic Corporation, where he coaches executives to change their ineffective leadership habits to achieve greater personal, professional, and organizational impact. He has worked with executive teams in government, academia, and across a number of industries, including high-tech pharmaceuticals, hospitals, services, and professional sports.

Eddie taught and served in health care leadership roles at the University of Michigan, where he was associate professor of surgery and dean for student affairs. At St. Joseph’s Mercy Hospital in Ann Arbor, Michigan, he practiced vascular surgery for twenty years and co-designed and led Life Lessons, a pioneering wellness and executive fitness program that helped hundreds of patients reduce health risk, increase life satisfaction, and achieve greater sustainable results in business leadership.

With his expertise in the biological basis of change, leadership, and stress, Eddie employs unique strategies to help executives sustain peak performance while balancing their lives. A popular keynote speaker, he weaves medical science, endurance sports, and experience in coaching executives into a compelling and practical message.

Kate and eddie are married, and live and work in Austin, Texas, the location of their consulting practice, Worth Ethic Corporation.

An OnlInE ASSESSmEnT TOOl IS AvAIlABlE AT: www.worthethic.com

ALPhA mALe sYnDrome

Kate Ludeman and Eddie Erlandson

Harvard Business School Press

Publication Date: October 10, 2006

$26.95 • Hardcover

ISBN: 1-59139-913-0

ContACtJulie Devoll, Senior Publicist

Harvard Business School Press

617-783-7471

jdevoll@hbsp.harvard.edu