“It is only with the heart that one can see rightly. What is essential is invisible to the eye.”
Â
Antoine de Saint Exupery
Ajax, the guide dog puppy we are currently raising to hopefully lead someone who is sight impaired is a great metaphor for the executive coaching work I do with senior level leaders. It’s amazing just how many leaders really could use a guide dog to see themselves and see the impact of their behavior on others more clearly.
It’s no secret that leaders have inflated views of their skills and competence–we’ve known this for a long time as it’s a consistent finding in all 360-degree feedback research ((Nowack, K. (1992). Self-assessment and rater-assessment as a dimension of management development. Human Resources Development Quarterly, 3, 141-155)). What is simply amazing is the gap between self-perception and reality.
In general, leaders seem to perceive that they basically “walk on water” while others (who have a pretty fair grasp of what leaders really do) often experience them as “passing water.” And, there appears to be growing support for the existence of this self-delusion in several recent studies and surveys.
It has been estimated that 65%-75% of the employees in any given organization report that the worst aspect of their job is their immediate boss. In fact, estimates of the base rate for managerial incompetence in corporate life range from 30% to 75% with the average level of poor leadership hovering at about 50% ((Hogan, R. & Kaiser, R. (2005). What we know about leadership. Review of General Psychology. 9 (2), 169-180)).
In a 2006 national survey of of 1,854 leaders surveyed, 92% rated themselves to be “excellent” or “good” as a manager. Self confidence is fine you say, but only 67% of direct reports agreed with them and at least 10% rated their bosses as actually performing poorly according to this study. What is unknown is how these leaders would interpret the results of this survey!
A 2007 global survey of executives and leaders by Korn Ferry involving respondents from over 70 countries revealed that only 27% thought their boss was performing the job better than they could! In this survey, 11% rated the performance of their current boss as “poor”, 14% rated it as “below average” and 23% rated it as “average” (42% did perceive their manager as either performing “above average” or “excellent”). So, nearly 75% of executives truly believe they can do a better job than their own boss!
In practice, mental health professionals tend to diagnose thoughts and beliefs as “delusional” when they appear unusual (this can always be debated), create strong psychological distress (this is always subjective), or become an obsession–even when there is compelling evidence to the contrary. Perhaps the delusional leaders possesses the “no clue” gene.
We know it can be found in both male and female leaders but does seem to be more pronounced as leaders move up the corporate hierarchy. One way of defining an aspect of “emotional intelligence” is the accurate awareness and insight of one’s own skills, strengths and impact on others. Delusional leaders seem to have a major disconnect in this department–often with pretty predictable life and career results.
Over the years of giving 360-feedback reports to executives, I can’t tell you how many “over-estimators” (leaders who rated themselves significantly higher than others) tend to shoot the messenger, critique the 360 questionnaire or explain away the more critical results by suggesting that the raters are the problem! Indeed, even at my best as an executive coach I have always seen my role as being a very “imperfect mirror” for the leader to increase their self-awareness.
So far, I think I am doing better as a guide dog puppy raiser with Ajax than I had done with two other puppies (Ernie and Elmo)….But, if you really want a realistic picture of how I am doing as an executive coach with Ajax just ask my wife…..Be well….
[tags]self-ratings, distortion, self-awareness, multi-rater feedback, 360 feedback, self-insight, emotional intelligence, kenneth nowack, ken nowack, nowack[/tags]
[tags] career paths, specialists, project managers,interests, entrepreneurial behavior, coaching, leadership, talent management, kenneth nowack, ken nowack, nowack[/tags]
Ken Nowack
Kenneth Nowack, Ph.D. is a licensed psychologist (PSY13758) and President & Chief Research Officer/Co-Founder of Envisia Learning, is a member of the Consortium for Research on Emotional Intelligence in Organizations. Ken also serves as the Associate Editor of Consulting Psychology Journal: Practice and Research. His recent book Clueless: Coaching People Who Just Don’t Get It is available for free for a limited time by signing up for free blog updates (Learn more at our website)
