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The Dark Side of Leadership 15 Chapter The Dark Side of Leadership

Hogan Assessment Systems "If you put on a blindfold and threw a dart at a map of the world, then there is a 70 percent chance that whatever country the dart lands on is run by some form of dictatorship.” RT Hogan, Hogan Assessment Systems

Introduction Bad leadership: individuals who are effective at building teams and getting results through others, but who obtain results that are morally or ethically challenged. Managerial incompetence: a person’s inability to build teams or get results through others. Managerial derailment: describes the common reasons why people in positions of authority have difficulties building teams or getting results through others.

Managerial Incompetence Research shows that 50-75% of managers are incompetent. Yet, organizations and countries survive. Some facts that support why this is so: Most countries are run by some form of dictatorship. Employee satisfaction surveys show over 75% of respondents indicate that their immediate boss is the most stressful part of their job. A study reported that only 30% of businesses had “healthy and respectful” work climates.

Dark-Side Personality Traits Table15.3: Dark-Side Personality Traits Source: Hogan Assessment Systems, The Hogan Development Survey (Tulsa, OK: 2002).

Types of managers Competent managers: good at building teams and getting results through others. Results-only managers: good at achieving results, but tend to treat followers so poorly that results tend to be short-lived. Cheerleaders: people in positions of authority who are people centered and make a point of getting along with everyone, but lose sight of results. In-name-only managers: may not be complete failures at building teams and getting results, but they could be a lot better at both.

Managerial Incompetence Grid Figure 15.1: The Two Dimensions of Managerial Incompetence

Two points about overwhelming situational and follower factors The manager can control his or her reactions to overwhelming factors. Episodic versus chronic incompetence. Episodic managerial incompetence is when people in positions of authority face extremely tough situational events that temporarily interfere with their ability to build teams and get results. Chronic managerial incompetence is when taxing situational events permanently disrupt a person’s ability to build teams or get results. All competent managers experience occasional episodic managerial incompetence; the trick is to limit the frequency and duration of these occurrences.

Other issues involved in managerial incompetence Organizational Fit - the alignment between personal and organizational values & beliefs Situational Awareness - refers to a someone’s ability to be cognizant of and accurately assess risks before, during, and after a particular situation Self-awareness – refers to being aware of their own strengths and shortcomings. Subject matter expertise - the relevant knowledge or experience a person can use to solve a problem. Team-building Know-how - the degree to which a leader knows the steps and processes needed to build high performing teams.