Stephen H Baum Leadership

Harry is a first-time CEO. He is almost always the smartest guy in the room, the guy with the incredible memory for details. Really.  And he was working 24/7 – fact working when he wasn’t working. On social occasions. With family. While sleeping.

His routine flurry of Sunday afternoon emails with ideas and questions was a burden to his operations team who interpreted the thoughts as additional priorities. 

His team dreaded Monday morning staff meetings as he did a mind dump of all his thoughts on an issue, and then prescribed what everyone should (think and) do. 

His deep dives in 1-2-1s and in group settings were legendary and felt like inquisitions. Time-consuming. Exhausting. Frustrating.

He personally edited every document headed to the Board and to outside parties from each of his direct reports – and not just the final version….every version[1].

 Never satisfied that his team would perform at 100%, he was in the weeds.

Harry had been a defensive linebacker in college[2]. Small and stocky, constantly challenged by his father, he felt he had to prove his worth every minute of every day. He memorized plays of the opponent in detail. He knew their moves. At the snap of the ball, he reached full force and speed in an instant, running over anyone in his way to crush the opposing quarterback. His nickname was “Bulldog.”

A CEO is a quarterback, not a linebacker. He knows the playbook and the strengths and weaknesses of his own team. He reads the defense and maybe calls an audible at the line of scrimmage, changing the play. He has primary and secondary targets to get the job done. He works as one with his receivers in the midst of chaos, signaling each other in subtle ways and giving each other room to improvise. Sometimes he tries to put points on the board, other times tries to gain field position or set up for a deceptive play later.

Harry came to realize his bulldog behavior limited is capacity and his career; de-motivating his best payers; “training” others to avoid risks of taking ownership and expect to be “spoon fed.”

Do you recognize this behavior? Do you exhibit this behavior? In my next post I will describe what Harry did to change his mindset and his behavior. I will also tell you about his progress and occasional lapses. 

This behavior is not that uncommon. That’s just my view. What’s yours? Do you have a story to tell? Please share it. And if you wish to understand a different style of leadership, read only the first response by Bill Fleming of Skanska USA Building:

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/12/business/bill-flemming-of-skanska-usa-building-on-leadership.html?_r=1

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