The Hubris of Leaders

It takes a strong reserve of self-confidence to be an effective leader.  It’s also remarkably easy to get comfortable crossing the fine but dangerous line between self-confidence and arrogance.  The best leaders are conscious of that boundary and walk along it but resist the lure to cross into this self-gratifying but credibility destroying country.

Being an effective leader requires the self-confidence to deal with constant ambiguity, to put faith in people and to recognize that success comes through others.  Unfortunately, all too many leaders get the formula wrong.  They begin to believe their own press clippings.  They convince themselves that they are in a leadership role because they are better than others, and they begin to lead and manage according to that premise.  When times are good, the positive results reinforce this behavior and feed the out-of-balance level of self- confidence of these individuals.   When times are bad, the debts created by this leader’s hubris come due, and like many of our struggling financial institutions, they do not have the currency (=credibility) to make the payments.  They default on their role as leaders.

Suddenly it appears that times are challenging.  That’s OK.  Great things and great people emerge from difficult times.  In particular, challenging circumstances are proving grounds for leaders of all ages and all levels, and those that emerge will be those that understand the difference between self-confidence and arrogance. 

The effective crisis leader exudes confidence, not based on a false view that all will be alright, but based on a genuine belief in the ability of smart people to work together to solve any problem.  Imagine Winston Churchill at the peak of the Blitz when enemy bombs were dropping all around London, and he had to summon the will to believe that the British people would persevere to survive and win.  His self-confidence fed the nation for a time, and the actions of his countrymen under his leadership won the day. 

If you are a leader facing tough times, check your hubris at the door and remember your job as a leader is to get things done by appealing to the hearts and minds of others.

Comments

[Chris Young]

Great reminder on the important difference between self confidence and hubris Art!

I featured your post as one of my 'Fab Five' blog picks from the past week which can be found here: http://www.maximizepossibility.com/employee_retention/2008/09/the-rainmaker-3.html

Be well!

[Wally Bock]

Congratulations! This post was selected as one of the five best business blog posts of the week in my Three Star Leadership Midweek Review of the Business Blogs.

http://blog.threestarleadership.com/2008/09/24/92408-a-midweek-look-at-the-business-blogs.aspx

Wally Bock

[Mike Myatt]

Hi Art:

I concur with the sentiments expressed in this post in their entirety. Job well done...

You might be interested in reading a post I authored entitled: "Confidence vs. Arrogance" which can be viewed here: http://www.n2growth.com/blog/confidence-vs-arrogance

[Prem Rao]

Entirely agree with you, Art. Success seems to do things to leaders! I had a post on a similar theme called the " Arrogance of the Overconfident?" http://bprao.wordpress.com/2008/09/17/arrogance-of-the-overconfident/

We should count our blessings as fortunately, this does not happen to all leaders.