I recently spoke at a client’s conference and had a chance to meet the CEO, the COO and several other key executives. Every executive that I met was kind humble and very down to earth. Watching them interact with everyone at the conference they treated everyone with respect and appreciation you could tell by everyone’s response that they were executives who were well respected and well-liked. This was delightful to see because sadly it is something that I find to be rare in corporate America these days. As I travel across this fine country of ours I unfortunately see many leaders who are suffering from what I call “Egotsis Giantitis” which is a disease of an enlarged ego.
As I flew home on the plane last night I thought long and hard about the executives at this company. I also thought about the sad fact that I was surprised that they weren’t egotistical they weren’t arrogant they weren’t self-important.
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So as a leader I really want you to take a hard look at yourself and ask yourself, are you arrogant? Are you too self-important to speak to the “little people?”
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So Mr. and Ms. leader I want you to think carefully about the issue of executive arrogance in your leadership role. As Carly Simon once sang “you’re so vain you probably don’t think this song is about you,” ironically if you are a leader who suffers from executive arrogance you probably don’t think this article is about you. The dictionary defines arrogance as “offensive display of superiority or self-importance; overbearing pride.” Unfortunately I meet many leaders who are suffering this condition. Unfortunately this has a very negative impact on their ability to lead effectively.
About a year ago I was doing training in a 36 story office building. At the end of the day around 5:30- the training was over. I packed up my materials and started to walk towards the main area where the elevators were located. As I walked down the hallway I saw a cleaning woman. I said “Hello” and she looked at me as if I was an alien and said, “Are you talking to me”? I said, “Yes how are you doing?” She looked to her right and to her left and said very quietly to me, “I don’t think you understand I am invisible, I am a cleaning woman.” When asked what she meant by that statement she said that 300 people worked on that floor and each night one person leaving spoke to her because she was after all invisible and not worth speaking to. To me this is a sad commentary on executive arrogance, the fact that executives would not speak to a person because of their position or their job role.
So as a leader I really want you to take a hard look at yourself and ask yourself, are you arrogant? Are you too self-important to speak to the “little people?” There are many reasons why you should be more self-aware and less arrogant. I believe that leaders who are not arrogant and who are not self-important get much better results from their teams. Here are some advantages of being a self-aware, humble, and less arrogant executive:
People will feel more appreciated. I talk to employees at many companies who tell me that executives come to visit their department and do not even say hello or speak to them—they only speak and talk to the high-ranking folks who work in that area. These people work hard and want to be acknowledged for their work. Besides giving people complements doesn’t cost anything it’s free.
People will be more likely to give feedback that is valuable. When executives are not arrogant and are approachable and talk to everyone people are not intimidated and are more likely to give them valuable feedback. In my opinion some of the most valuable feedback in a company comes from the people on the front lines that are doing the work. I recently met a CEO at a meeting in Maryland and he told me that he travels around his facilities and one of the first things he does is have lunch with the guys in the plant. He described to me that the first 30 minutes of lunch had nothing to do with work, they were talking about hunting, they were talking about cars, they were talking about their families, and only after establishing rapport with front-line workers did he ask them for their opinions and business ideas. He said that made every employee on the shop floor feel important and valued.
The people will like you. Many people I meet across America say as a leader it is not important to be liked, only to be respected. While I’ll agree with that comment in part I also thick it is important as a leader to be likable because part of charisma is likability. I believe that if people like you they will be loyal they will work harder than they will be more productive if they like the person that they work with. So by not being arrogant and being more interested in what other people are doing you will actually get better results.
You will be a great role model for other leaders. The leader that is not arrogant and who is interested in helping others becomes not only a great leader but a role model for other leaders in the organization to follow. I believe that teams act in the way that their leader acts so the more you can demonstrate true unselfish leadership the better off your team will be.
So leader please take a careful look in the mirror and ask yourself if you are arrogant or selfish. Are you consistently trying to work on being more aware of your behavior and being less arrogant? Secondly take a hard look at all of the managers and supervisors on your team and make sure that they are being kind leaders because kind leaders get better results. After all egotostis ginatitus can be a fatal disease and kill your career.
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Photo: Getty Images
