Why Leaders Lose Their Way

Today, we analyze why Bill George’s leaders to lose their way from true north

Monday we began our exploration of  Bill George and Peter Sims’ principles of authentic leadership found in True North Discover Your Authentic Leadership, Authentic Leadership, Finding Your True North, and True North Groups. Hopefully, you looked at Bill George’s wonderful collection of articles since 2003. Most of this post contains quotes directly from the book.

Five Archetypes to Lose Your Way

Unfortunately, many leaders lose their way along the journey. Too many leaders never achieve their full potential or sabotage their journey. They fail to stay true to their authentic leadership. Sometimes they fail to pass through the crucible of their trials and failures. Other times they lose sight of their bearings from one of the five archetypes:

1. “Imposters rise through the ranks with a combination of cunning and aggression. They understand the politics of getting ahead and let no one stand in their way…Having acquired power, Imposters may not be content about how to use it. They are beset with doubt about handling the responsibilities of leadership…Paralyzed by doubt, they are unable to act decisively. The inaction leads to poor results and external challenges, so they attack their critics and cut themselves off from internal feedback.”
2. “Rationalizers always appear on top of the issues. When things don’t go their way, they blame external forces or subordinates or offer facile answers to their problems. They rarely step up and take responsibilities themselves…As they advance and find themselves facing greater challenges, they transmit pressure to their subordinates instead of modulating it…Unfortunately, their actions only make the future worse. So they turn to more aggressive schemes, such as reporting future revenue streams in quarterly sales or filling customer warehouses with inventory…Ultimately they become victims of their own rationalizations, as do their depleted organizations.”
3. “Glory seekers define themselves by acclaim of the external world. Money, fame, glory, and power are their goals, as they pursue visible signs of success. Often it seems more important to them to appear on lists of the most powerful business leaders that it does to build organizations of lasting value…Their thirst for fame is unquenchable…Sometimes the emptiness creates envy of those who have more, a quality that is hard for outsiders to comprehend from someone who seems to have it all.”
4. “Loners avoid forming close relationships, seeking out mentors, or creating support networks. They believe they can and must make it on their own. Not to be confused with introverts. Loners often have a myriad of superficial relationships and acolytes, but they do not listen to them. They reject honest feedback, even from those who care about them. Without wise counsel, Loners are prone to make major mistakes.”
5. “Shooting Stars lives center entirely on their careers. To observers, they are perpetual motion machines, always on the go, traveling incessantly to get ahead. They rarely make time for family, friendships, their communities, or even themselves…They move up so rapidly in their careers that they never have time to learn from their mistakes. A year or two into any job, they are ready to move on, before they have had to confront the results of their decisions…One day they find themselves at the top, overwhelmed by an intractable set of problems. At this point, they are prone to irrational decisions.”

Heroes of Their Own Journeys

“All five archetypal leaders described here frame their life stories in the model of an all-conquering hero…If fails utterly when one leads a team, precisely because being a hero is not empowering to teammates or subordinates…The role of leaders is not to get other people to follow them but to empower others to lead. They cannot elicit the best performances from their teams if they are in the game primarily for themselves.”

Join us Friday when we conclude our examination of Bill George’s authentic leadership.