Episode #407: Common Leader Achille's Heels

We know the name Achilles because of Brad Pitt and Hollywood or we may have read the Iliad. He was a famous mythical Greek hero whose body was invulnerable, except for the back of his heel. His mother plunged him into the river Styx to protect his body, but her fingertips covered the heel, leaving it vulnerable. Research by Dr. Jack Zenger identified four common elements which comprise Achille’s heels for leaders. Blind spots are a problem for all of us. We can’t see our foibles, issues and problems, but they are blindingly obvious to everyone else working for us. Remember, subordinates are all expert “boss watchers”. They examine us in the greatest detail every day, in every interaction. Let’s examine what Zenger found and see what we can learn as leaders.

1. Lacking Integrity

Not too many leaders would be saying they lacked integrity about themselves but that may not be how they are seen by their subordinates. The organization may be zigging but we decide to zag. We don’t agree with the policy, so we decide to head off in another direction. There may be promulgated values developed in the senior executive suites and we are not modelling the correct behaviour. Maybe our big leader egos can’t admit mistakes or when we are wrong. We try to bend logic and justify our way out of the situation. Maybe we say one thing and do the precise opposite of what we are preaching. “Do what I say, not what I do” – does this sound familiar?

2. Not Accountable

“Of course, I am accountable – what nonsense”, may be our first reaction. We may be telling our boss that the poor results of our team are because we haven’t been issued with the sharpest tools in the toolbox. It is all their fault and we are pristine and perfect. The 360 survey results are a bloodbath, as our subordinates hoe into us for our various failings, but we dismiss the results. “Piffle. Don’t they know what I am facing here. The pressure, the stress. No one appreciates how hard I am working. They have no idea what they are talking about”. Perhaps our decisions are poor and instead of owning them, we push the blame off on to others, particularly other departments. “If only IT did their job properly. If only marketing were more professional. If only sales was pulling their weight”, ad nauseum.

3.Over-Focused On Self

It would be difficult to find leaders who don’t have this attribute to varying degrees. You don’t see too many wilting violets whisked up into leadership positions. Self-promotion is a fundamental aspect of getting ahead in business. The issues arise when it goes to extremes. Strong leaders can often believe they are in a zero sum game and another’s success lessens their own worth and promotion opportunities. Not cooperating with rivals or even attempting to sabotage them can be some fallout from this attitude. Subordinates too can be seen as future rivals who might replace the boss, so better to not delegate to, coach or provide experience for capable people in order to keep them down.

4. Uninspiring

It would be a rare bird of a leader who admitted they were uninspiring. We easily believe we are a role model for others, that we have credibility and are someone others would want to emulate. However, we might be a hopeless public speaker, barely able to string two words together without injecting a series of ums and ahs into proceedings. We might be morose, weighed down with the pressure of our position and responsibilities, permanently in a bad mood. We might be so busy, we are incapable of directing others and wind up dumping work on them minus the WHY and the how bits of the equation.

There is a bitter pill for leaders to swallow to overcome their blind spots. It is called “feedback” and it can often taste sour, jagged and unpleasant. We cannot see ourselves as our staff see us, so gird your loins and ask for help to be a better leader. This is never easy, but the alternative of blundering forward, repeating the same errors is not tenable. At some point the organization will have a reckoning with us and it might prove fatal to our careers. Better to take our medicine early, under our own direction, than hoping for the best and eventually getting the chop.