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Jim Citrin Leadership by Example

Jim Citrin, Leadership by Example

Ten Leadership Taboos Exposed

by Jim Citrin

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Posted on Tuesday, May 8, 2007, 12:00AM

I've long believed that focus and hard work can help just about anyone become an effective leader.

A provocative new book, however, takes issue with this conviction. In "The Taboos of Leadership," Anthony F. Smith, CEO coach and founder of Leadership Research Institute, contends that the public has been sold a bill of goods on leadership.

Secrets Divulged

"Leadership is being propagated as a task not unlike dieting or cooking," Smith told me in a recent interview. "We've come to the point where we want everyone to be a leader. But just because we may want that, it doesn't mean it can happen."

According to Smith, leadership is exceedingly messy and difficult, and few people can actually pull it off. Yet the better that followers understand the realities of how their leaders think and act, the healthier their organizations become. That's why he wrote his book -- to "divulge the secrets that no one will say about leaders."

Those secrets are the taboos of leadership, the things that are politically incorrect, embarrassing, intimate, threatening, and difficult to discuss. Taboos have their power, Smith contends, because they touch a nerve and serve, in organizations, to define the boundaries of acceptable behavior.

The 10 Taboos

According to Smith there are 10 taboos of leadership, and "simply acknowledging that the taboos exist and why they're difficult to discuss provides us with ammunition to dilute their power."

In that spirit, here are the 10 leadership taboos:

1. We still don't understand the true nature of leadership.

Leadership development is a billion-dollar industry. But the sanitized models of leadership that often come out overlook what leaders actually think and do. This includes thoughts and actions that fall on the darker side of persuading others to act in line with their agenda.

2. Charisma plays a critical role in who's chosen as a leader.

People are impressed and influenced by good looks, strong communications skills, and a palpable aura. Why? Because we want to identify with and be inspired by people we perceive as similar to us.

3. Politics is a necessary leadership skill.

No leader achieves his or her goals without being skilled in getting what they want, even when they lack the authority to do so. Whether this involves saying what people want to hear, using information selectively, or doing an end run to get the desired decision, people skilled in these political behaviors tend to be the ones that rise through the ranks.

However, going for what you want by playing this game is seen as unsavory. So leaders work hard to appear less political -- which is itself a political act.

4. Gender matters -- or maybe it doesn't.

Discussing whether women make better or worse leaders than men, and why less than 2 percent of Fortune 1000 company CEOs are women despite the fact that they hold close to half of all middle-management positions, is a huge taboo.

There's also a disconnect between the talk about more "feminine aspects of organizational leadership" -- collaboration, empowerment, trust, concern for the whole person, and an emphasis on interpersonal relations -- and the fact that the most proven and effective leaders exercise the more "male characteristics" of ruthlessness, power-hoarding, and the competitive will to win at all costs.

5. Leaders secretly feel that they deserve special treatment.

There are few things more toxic than the notion that leaders deserve special treatment. This takes its most explicit form in the area of executive compensation, but it's also present in the other trappings of power.

Of course, leaders today convey that they don't receive special treatment and are, in fact, no different from anyone else. Yet, in their private thoughts, most CEOs feel perfectly justified in receiving disproportionately high compensation and perks such as private air travel. After all, from their perspective, they're responsible for the well-being of thousands of employees.

This double-standard is a hot-button issue. It brings up stinging associations with social injustice, tax breaks for the rich, military deferments for the well-connected, legacy appointments to elite colleges, and so on.

6. Leaders play favorites.

One of the most sensitive issues in corporate politics is the role of favoritism. Is it right that anyone should get ahead simply because he or she has worked closely with the boss before, or knows him or her socially? Is it more important for a leader to be surrounded by the best people, or by people he or she feels comfortable with and can trust?

It's taboo for a leader to promote friends or recruit former lieutenants, but they do it anyway. The reason is that chief executives are more isolated at the top than most people in their organizations realize. As a result, they're vulnerable to and dependent on those they turn to for advice, information, perspective, and emotional support.

This is why leaders choose people for their inner circle they feel comfortable with and whose skills and thought processes are familiar. There are obvious pitfalls in this practice, such as a lack of objectivity by the leader in assessing performance, insufficient attention to how the individual fits the culture of the organization, and -- most dangerous -- filtering out important information that the leader may not want to hear.

7. Leaders often overstay their welcome.

Why do leaders hate the issue of succession? Because it goes against their grain. Leaders find it exceptionally hard to separate themselves from their work, and often wrap their identity in their job and title.

No one should be surprised by this. Every human being, leader or otherwise, fears a lack of significance perhaps more than anything else. So while finding a successor may well be a leader's most important task, it's probably the least natural one.

8. Work-life balance is a charade.

A leader's success comes at a high price, in the form of more hours working and less time with friends and family. It's a price most people aren't willing to or can't pay. But over the past decade, societal pressure has resulted in an idealized version of how to live and work.

In this context, the drive and focus that the exceptionally successful exhibit is actually regarded as a negative role model to be curtailed rather than emulated. People are insatiably curious to know what it takes to get to the top, but when most people learn what's really required to get there they aren't prepared to make the sacrifices.

9. Leaders are driven by blatant self-interest, and that's OK.

It's taboo to openly say that your work serves your own self-interest. After all, today's leadership is supposed to be centered on values, ethics, and integrity.

While these are, of course, wonderful attributes, the fact is that leaders focus on them only to the extent that it helps them get what they really want.

Ethics and values are important, but it's naive to ignore their role as a part of the business equation. For instance, many companies are currently "going green" to combat global warming, but would they do so if it were against their economic self-interest?

10. Leadership is addictive.

Sure, leaders have to work hard, and there are a lot of responsibilities and demands. They don't really have any semblance of a work-life balance. Their health and relationships often suffer and their personal interests are generally limited to a narrow set of activities that feed their business.

On the other hand, being at the top means getting lots of attention and perks. Leaders receive respect, credibility, and authority just by virtue of their position; can assert their will over others to get things done; and are surrounded by people who march to the beat of their drum, not the other way around.

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  • Yahoo! Finance User - Tuesday, May 22, 2007, 2:50PM ET  Report Abuse

    • Overall: 1/5

    The problem is enlightened self interest has drive then companies for far too long. Service before self is the mark of true leadership, and the tide will turn soon I hope.

  • Yahoo! Finance User - Tuesday, May 22, 2007, 2:41PM ET  Report Abuse

    • Overall: 1/5

    It's amazing to me that you didn't mention a leader's emotional intelligence - that's the key to keeping employee's level of initiative high and constant....

  • Yahoo! Finance User - Tuesday, May 22, 2007, 2:33PM ET  Report Abuse

    • Overall: 3/5

    Interesting, but not really as "all emcompassing" as the author would suggest. Real leaders recognize and resist the pitfalls of "special treatment", but make the "sacrifices" anyway. Not every "leader" has an ego problem.

  • Yahoo! Finance User - Tuesday, May 22, 2007, 1:31PM ET  Report Abuse

    • Overall: 5/5

    Very practical advice- valid points- well written- information is invigorating yet depressing at the same time

  • Yahoo! Finance User - Tuesday, May 22, 2007, 11:11AM ET  Report Abuse

    • Overall: 5/5

    I am a leader and have been for 12 years. It is a lonely job. Few understand or respect the sacrifices the person at the top makes because of the abuses of a few. But like genius, leadership is essential to the progress of society. The money and perqs that are associated with the role of the CEO overlook the sleepless nights, Sunday meetings, and personal sacrifices that this job entails.

  • Yahoo! Finance User - Monday, May 14, 2007, 12:11AM ET  Report Abuse

    • Overall: 5/5

    This is without a doubt the most accurate assessment of what it takes to achieve and remain a leader in business. This is the way it is. Take it from this non-political MBA with a quarter century of business experience in a personal startup, the Fortune 500 and mid size business.

  • Yahoo! Finance User - Saturday, May 12, 2007, 1:31PM ET  Report Abuse

    • Overall: 1/5

    poorly written - inacurate analysis / comment based upon 66 years of working with and being a leader

  • Yahoo! Finance User - Friday, May 11, 2007, 11:41AM ET  Report Abuse

    • Overall: 5/5

    Thoughtful, blunt, honest and thought-provoking

  • Yahoo! Finance User - Friday, May 11, 2007, 8:48AM ET  Report Abuse

    • Overall: 5/5

    Very enlightening! I didn't know points 5-10 characterize corporate leader'(s) motivations. Is this a good thing?

  • Yahoo! Finance User - Wednesday, May 9, 2007, 11:36PM ET  Report Abuse

    • Overall: 4/5

    I read the first half of Mr. Smith's book today and believe he is one of the best on this subject and someone worth listening to.

  • Yahoo! Finance User - Wednesday, May 9, 2007, 9:43PM ET  Report Abuse

    • Overall: 3/5

    Cynical yet accurate summary of the traits of leaders.

  • Yahoo! Finance User - Wednesday, May 9, 2007, 8:25PM ET  Report Abuse

    • Overall: 4/5

    This article makes it sound like all leaders behave in these manners. Some do, but not all. #6 is true for many leaders. Regarding #1: 1. In my Organizational Behavior textbook from UNT, they said that "Research efforts at isolating leadership traits resulted in a number of dead ends" (s1, p. 403), but that "A breakthrough, of sorts, came when researchers began organizing traits around the Big Five personality framework" (s1, p. 403). The Big Five are: extraversion, conscientiousness, openness, agreeableness, and emotional stability. The study "found that extraversion is the most important trait of effective leaders. But results show that extraversion is more strongly related to leader emergence than to leader effectiveness. This is not totally surprising since sociable and dominant people are more likely to assert themselves in group situations. Conscientiousness and openness to experience also showed strong and consistent relationships to leadership, though not quite as strong as extraversion. The traits of agreeableness and emotional stability wern't as strongly correlated with leadership. Overall, it does appear that the trait approach does have something to offer. Leaders who are extraverted (individuals who like being around people and are able to assert themselves), conscientious (individuals who are disciplined and keep commitments they make) and open (creative and flexible) do seem to have an advantage when it comes to leadership, suggesting that good leaders do have key traits in common." Regarding #10: 10. Not every leader "assert[s] their will over others." The Bible says that "The greatest among you will be your servant" (Matthew 23:11). There is a field out there called Organizational Behavior that talks in depth about leaders and many other issues.

  • Yahoo! Finance User - Wednesday, May 9, 2007, 8:09PM ET  Report Abuse

    • Overall: 4/5

    A very interesting article and I believe it to be true. Never-the-less, not all leaders are the same. I believe if you compared and contrasted the leadership styles of Kenneth Lay (of Enron fame) and Ross Perot, you will find their styles of leadership to be very very different. It's one thing to climb the corporate ladder through office politics; it's quite another to do so by actually building a business (or businesses, plural - in Mr. Perot's case) from the ground upward. Leadership? I'd rather emulate the likes of Ross Perot, Bill Gates, Warren Buffet, and Michael Dell. And oddly enough, if we measure success in terms of financial wealthy, these men are certainly on top. http://www.creditmanagementworld.com

  • Yahoo! Finance User - Wednesday, May 9, 2007, 7:43PM ET  Report Abuse

    • Overall: 1/5

    This article has confused leadership and management . The basic foundation of leadership is that you have the respect of those you lead. I once worked for a company which made large profits but the upper management has to have body guards to get to and from the office. Get real and look at leadership from the bottom up instead of between management peers.

  • Yahoo! Finance User - Wednesday, May 9, 2007, 7:36PM ET  Report Abuse

    • Overall: 5/5

    I've worked in both the private sector and in government. These truths are just as evident in both areas. As I approach retirement after more than 35 years in the workforce, I wish I had understood these leadership attributes earlier in life.

  • Yahoo! Finance User - Wednesday, May 9, 2007, 6:11PM ET  Report Abuse

    • Overall: 5/5

    Very good article and very True with respect to Corporate America. Might find a different answer in other forums. Quick Points: 1) Leadership (as several veterans alluded to) has different meanings in different contexts. In the military trust is critical in that lives are at stake. Competence and teamwork are key. In a company the stakes are lower., and therefore destructive acitivity is punished less and ego/drive matters more. 2) Interesting how people look up to folks who have the commitment to become a CEO. If they really love the work, I understand. If they don't, then that 'drive' is more like 'obsession'. I am ambitious, but I don't want that life, I prefer to spend time with my wife and kids... I lived that life for 3 years (Fast Track, not CEO) and backed off. Now I do have a work life balance instead of just work, work, work. 3) Per one reader's comment... a lot of people would do just fine in those roles; there really is no justification for that kind of pay. It's idiocy, really, especially given the frequency of failure - one flaw among several in an otherwise pretty good system. In fact, I bet you most CEOs would not quit if their pay and benefits (including options) were taken away (at every company, so there was no lucrative alternative.) They would continue to give their lives to the company because to commit at that level the rewards generally have to be significantly intrinsic. At some point it's no longer about the money.

  • Yahoo! Finance User - Wednesday, May 9, 2007, 5:35PM ET  Report Abuse

    • Overall: 4/5

    A thoughtful article. Leadership is all about leverage, managing the herd, so-to-speak. It's hard to get other people to work for you and to do what you say and to then give you a share of their added value. There's no formula, and it's unfortunate that a lot of people are in charge for reasons other than merit. But it makes sense to me that leaders are very protective of their tenuous positions, and certainly don't like upstarts in the ranks, particularly those who are openly ambitious and a threat to their piece of the pie. What you can do is sit quietly, watch, listen, and learn, and then when you can't take it anymore, are tired of being told what to do by idiots, think you can do it all better, and feel like exercising your free will - take a risk and live the American dream. Make your own way. I disagree that you have to work all the time and can't mix great success with life balance. If at the end of every day you can say you learned something, then you're doing better than most people.

  • Yahoo! Finance User - Wednesday, May 9, 2007, 4:27PM ET  Report Abuse

    • Overall: 5/5

    It's taken 20 years for someone to wake up and tell it like it is on this topic, and all the BS books written on the topic that have amounted to nothing. Anyone who has watched "Office Space" or worse-- lived it, knows that there is a critical mass to pop leadership fallacies. Those who would deny it, and rate the author low are stuck in mud.

  • Yahoo! Finance User - Wednesday, May 9, 2007, 4:02PM ET  Report Abuse

    • Overall: 1/5

    You won't find any leaders who exhibit these traits. The author is confused about the true nature of leadership. I would argue that there are VERY few true leaders in Corporate America, and those that do exist are unheralded because they exhibit the true characteristics of a leader: humility, integrity, compassion and moral courage. They are almost certainly not the CEO. By their very nature, they lie low, and as a consequence we tend to associate Leadership with the tireless self-promoters who usually wind up at the controls of Fortune 500 companies. They are successful, so they MUST be leaders, right? If you want to find a leader, stand up, walk out of the boardroom and make your way to Tikrit Air Base in Iraq. Try to find one of the junior officers in the 82nd Airborne Division. Spend a few years watching some of them, then write your book. A simpler exercise would be to read Anton Myer's Once An Eagle. You will find the Leader is not the one who rises to the top. The Leader is the individual who puts the welfare of their troops above their own. Such a definition automatically disqualifies almost every CEO out there.

  • Yahoo! Finance User - Wednesday, May 9, 2007, 3:46PM ET  Report Abuse

    • Overall: 3/5

    These traits are completely foreign from the leadership traits that the U.S. military defines. Maybe that's why the military leaders who have these 10 "taboo" traits are the ones who get fragged!

  • Yahoo! Finance User - Wednesday, May 9, 2007, 3:01PM ET  Report Abuse

    • Overall: 3/5

    Yes, I think these observation (taboos) are accurate, but the problem is that they don't account for maturity. I think that many of these traits reflect young leaders (30s and 40s) who have gained the knack of political manuvering, but not the more mature leaders of say 50 and beyond. Eventually to most mature leaders, the trappings and perks of leadership lose thier gleam and attractiveness. More significant leadership factors come into play (like how the leader is going to be remembered and what kind of a name is the leader going to leave, what good did the leader do for the business, subordinates, community, his/her family, and other long term effects of the leader). No leader wants to go down in history as a conniving, manipulative, egotistical, selfish, tyrant (even though they may have managed a "well-oiled machine"). Baby-boomers have always worshipped youth and have basically created this problem of selfish leadership thinking that young leadership is the secret to gaining our utopia by fast-tracking brilliant up and coming young managers without allowing them to gain the long term attribute of wisdom. This is the reason for the necessity of the 60 hour work week for both spouses just to survive in the middle class, and non-management members of subsequent generations shouting to us to "get a life"!

  • Yahoo! Finance User - Wednesday, May 9, 2007, 2:32PM ET  Report Abuse

    • Overall: 4/5

    I think the article is dead on. Especially the notion that everyone wants to know what it takes to reach the top, but few (very few) are willing to sacrifice to acheive the goal. Compounding this issue is the fact that below the top 4 or 5 in a large company, the perks don't really outweigh the risk. These top Lutenients are the first under the bus when things are going right and are the last to get any credit / huge bonus / perks when the company exceeds its goals. The true rewards go to the top 4 or 5 dogs, so it takes a long time (and a lot of side-stepping land mines) in a career to get to that point. Even then, a downsize, outsource, or the CEO's newly graduated son / nefew can easily derail a climb to the top that has taken the good portion of your career to obtain. Its no wonder so few attempt it. Many, myself included, will opt for the steady paycheck, good benefits, and hope for some type of 401 match, until a better offer comes along. I think this is why turnover and multi-company careers have become the norm as well. While these 10 taboos of leadership are seldom discussed - the underlings are VERY aware that they exist. These might be trait(s) of an effective leader, but it has also served to sever ANY and ALL idea of employee loyalty to the company. A win at all cost attitude is great at the top where it translates into 7 figure bonuses and additional stock options. A win at all cost mentality as a middle manager gets you a supenea when the finiancials of the company have to be re-stated. If you're not willing to take the fall, then your not a team player, thus not worthy of ever being considered for the top spots. Middle - Upper management is the most dangerous place to be in a company, thus many choose not to attempt to navigate it. The upper level is usally reserved for the trust fund, wink-wink legacy grads, and very well connected anyways. If you are not in the aformentioned category, truely possess great leadership ability, and want to make it to CEO, CFO, etc... Then do yourself a favor.... Work in the business long enough to learn the business, keep your great ideas to yourself. Then quit and start your own company and beat the "old boys club" at their own game. A true leader will ALWAYS do better for themself, than they will for an established corporation. The most scary and exciting thing you can do is fire your old boss and replace them with yourself. Then again, this should be just the challenge a good learder is looking for.

  • Yahoo! Finance User - Wednesday, May 9, 2007, 2:26PM ET  Report Abuse

    • Overall: 5/5

    My experiences over a 30 year period with a major Fortune 500 company match every one of these ten points. As much as I hate to agree, these 10 points should be in management 101. Bet not ...

  • Yahoo! Finance User - Wednesday, May 9, 2007, 1:55PM ET  Report Abuse

    • Overall: 5/5

    Being a natural born leader and conquistador myself, I acknowledge that these are all correct and see these within myself. A true leader is not thwarted by seeing the negative attributes to his character. There is no direction but forward, no matter who I crush within my mighty path.

  • Yahoo! Finance User - Wednesday, May 9, 2007, 1:33PM ET  Report Abuse

    • Overall: 5/5

    Based on my 40 years of work in corporate USA, I would say this article is mostly right-on.

  • Yahoo! Finance User - Wednesday, May 9, 2007, 1:31PM ET  Report Abuse

    • Overall: 4/5

    This is pretty much why I don't like "management" people. Usually I'm not so diplomatic. I usually say "waste of oxygen".

  • Yahoo! Finance User - Wednesday, May 9, 2007, 1:12PM ET  Report Abuse

    • Overall: 5/5

    Yes. It's all true. Isn't it a shame!

  • Yahoo! Finance User - Wednesday, May 9, 2007, 12:42PM ET  Report Abuse

    • Overall: 2/5

    Bleh. This is subjective B$. The are only 3 leaders here: Money, Power and Respect. All of which are fleeting. Also, Smith needs to get over himself.

  • Yahoo! Finance User - Wednesday, May 9, 2007, 12:11PM ET  Report Abuse

    • Overall: 3/5

    The worst boss to work for is a fellow who is jealous of you if you know more than him, and belittles you if you do not know as much as he does.

  • Yahoo! Finance User - Wednesday, May 9, 2007, 11:41AM ET  Report Abuse

    • Overall: 4/5

    Good article. But, to the person who made a reference to "baby boomers in the way" (i.e. BBs taking up all the mgt spots) EXCUSE ME? They did their time, and you'll have to do yours. I've seen several comments now here and there about BBs referred to as a negative in the workspace. Just wait til the Gen ys, Xs realize the taxes they're paying all go to fund the BB's SS and Medicaire....then they'll REALLY be pi$$ed!

Showing comments 6-35 of 49<< PreviousNext >>
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