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Leadership Resumes:

Why Leaders Lose Their Way

By

Bagus Torasanto Nugroho014201200127

To find out the problems why so many potential leaders fail, the writer interviewed successful leaders andstudied the case histories of failed leaders. The study of unsuccessful leaders revealed a pattern: the failedleaders couldnt lead themselves. On their leadership journey these high potential managers adopted a set ofpersonal behaviors that worked temporarily but were unsustainable in the long run.Developing leaders can make mistakes and fall prey to these haards, yet regain their footing and continue ontheir developmental journey. !n fact, their mistakes, especially those that come early in their careers, are highlybeneficial in their developmental process and reduce the likelihood of making major mistakes when reachingthe pinnacle of power. The writer found in the interviews with these successful leaders that the hero role wasrepresentative of only their early leadership development. The heros job " doing impressive deeds, facing

challenges alone, and gaining notice " initially seemed their best route to success. #ut acting as a hero wasjust a stage that the successful managers moved through on their journey to authentic leadership. The heroicmodel of leadership turns out to be merely an early stage " one with risks, temptations, misbehaviors " andone that needs to be outgrown.$rom the interviews the writer found five perils of the leadership journey, distinctive destructive behaviors thattend to occur in the hero stage of managers early careers. The five are: being an imposter% rationaliing% gloryseeking% playing the loner% and being a shooting star. !n the following e&amples, the disguised cases are of realfailed leaders at major firms.!mposters fre'uently lack self(awareness and self(esteem. They may have little appetite for self(reflection andconse'uently defer personal development. They rise through organiational ranks with a combination ofcunning and aggression. !mposters use these strategies to achieve positions of power, but then have littlesense of how to use that power for the good of the organiation. !n effect, they have been too busy besting theircompetitors to learn how to lead. )eaders who succumb to this haard embrace the politics of getting aheadand letting no one stand in their way. They are the ultimate political animals, adept at figuring out who their

competitors are and then eliminating them one by one.The *ationalier leaders are unable to admit their mistakes for fear of being considered a failure or of losingtheir jobs. +s a result of their inability to take responsibility for setbacks and failures, they rationalie theirproblems away. To outsiders, rationaliers always appear on top of the issues. hen things dont go their way,they tend to blame e&ternal forces or subordinates or offer facile answers to their problems. orse yet, theymay attempt to cover them up or deny them. They rarely step up and take responsibility.)eaders who seek glory are motivated by a need for acclaim. The haard of being derailed by glory(seekingstems from the need for e&ternal reinforcement of their self(worth. -oney, fame, glory, and power are theirgoals, as they pursue visible signs of success. Often it seems more important to them to be known as powerfulbusiness leaders than to build organiations of lasting value. $or a leader stuck in the trap of glory(seeking,however, the thirst for fame is un'uenchable. )eaders who are perpetually dissatisfied cannot be effective, andthey are prone to try to divert more and more resources " money, fame, glory and power " from theirorganiation to their own use.!n a competitive world where leaders are evaluated on their individual merits, it stands to reason that aspiring

leaders would take care to develop their own resources, husband their own ideas, and trust only their ownjudgment. et without wise counsel, loners are prone to making major mistakes. This, too, is a self(reinforcingtrap. hen results elude them and criticism of their leadership grows, they retreat to the bunker. They have fewpersonal support structures to draw upon to get through challenging times. They become rigid in pursuing theirobjectives, not recogniing it is their behavior that makes it impossible to reach their goals. -eanwhile, theirorganiations unravel or their personal lives crumble.)eaders who fall into the shooting star trap lack the grounding of an integrated life. The lives of shooting starleaders center entirely on their careers. To observers, they are always on the go, traveling incessantly to getahead. They rarely make time for family, friendships, their communities, or even themselves. -uch(neededsleep and e&ercise are continually deferred. +s they run ever faster, their stress mounts.

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hile self(knowledge arises most dramatically from life e&periences " notably the e&perience of failure " it isalso continually available in a leaders surroundings, provided the leader is able to take advantage of it. /o,how do leaders keep perspective and stay grounded0 1ere are some suggestions for personal developmentgleaned from our interviews:2.#e honest with yourself and listen to honest critics.3.Take responsibility for failures, but share successes with others.4.1ave several blunt, honest people you trust close to you to tell the truth.

5.-aintain strong personal relationships with people who care about you.6.$oster a strong inner world, including a robust sense of purpose.