I hate hero CEOs
‘Magic’ leaders can be a pain for any organisation, says The Villain
To many, she’s the holy grail of attraction and engagement. The leader with more charisma than Clinton, more chutzpah than Blatter, more confidence than Cowell.
Everywhere she goes, folk fall at her feet: employees, journalists, even those cynical money-grabbers in the City.
Allegedly, the benefits of charismatic leaders are legion. They help with attraction, because people want to be associated with them. (Many, it’s said, even want to sleep with them. No accounting for taste.)
Charismatic leaders can help control overheads, because people are prepared to work for them for less. Plus, they get free ‘advertising’ in the business pages.
They even, allegedly, help imbue organisations with values and desirable behaviours.
Yes, I’m looking at you lot, Branson, Bezos, O’Leary and the ghost of Steve Jobs.
But the truth is, charismatic leaders bring as many challenges as blessings. To begin with, many use their charm to hide a multitude of failings.
Richard Branson might be a compelling personality, but that didn’t stop Virgin Cola going flat, or Virgin Brides getting annulled. Come to think of it, it doesn’t stop Virgin Trains carriages smelling of wee, either.
And in terms of organisational sustainability, they’re notoriously difficult to replace. Look at Manchester United post-Ferguson, Apple post-jobs or even Tesco post-Leahy. Taking over from a charismatic leader can be a real hospitable pass, career wise.
But the biggest problem is that you end up with a culture based on a fallible human being, rather than anything more structured.
Employees start trying to emulate the leader, rather than playing to their own strengths.
No attempt to structure behaviours will work if those behaviours ‘aren’t representative of the way Angela would do it.’ The fact that Angela is a hyperactive congenital risk taker with seventeen Harvard degrees just doesn’t get factored in.
And when the leader fails spectacularly – maybe there’s a ‘Lewinsky moment’ in his office after hours – the whole house of cards comes a-tumbling down, with precious little resource available to help stack it back up again.
So my view is, in terms of leadership, you’re better off going grey. Put your trust in structure and good practice rather than me-too-ism. Have a leadership team that actually leads, rather than just holds the CEO’s coat.
And as soon as your CEO is making more from personal appearances than the company’s turning over, God help you, and it really is time to run a mile.
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