Senior executives are at risk
and could even be considered
as an endangered species given the high attrition
rate reported in the media worldwide. This article highlights some of
the dangers awaiting unsuspecting senior executives and proposes
five `reasons to be careful' which executives can use to defend
against failure and reduce derailment risks and to help keep their
organizations safe.
But why do senior executives need to be aware of protection
in the first place? In the beginning, it may appear a rather absurd
assertion because they are positioned at the top of the organization and
occupy a position of privilege. Secondly, they strongly influence the
criteria by which their success will be assessed, and thirdly, they are
able to mobilize people, information and resources to their own
advantage. Given such influence why is it then that so many fail to live up
to expectations, just go wrong, trip over and self-sabotage
their hitherto very successful careers? Instances suggest, perhaps as
the power and greed of the celebrity executives grew, their capacity
to act with humanity, requisite humility and
responsibility diminished.
Root causes of role instability at the top include political
infighting, fights for the limelight, egomania, megalomania,
turf-tussles, criminality and corporate fraud, incompetent auditing and
inept regulatory supervision. Physical and mental illness and as well as
the toxic dynamics of envy, greed and dysfunctional narcissism are also
a factor. Sometimes, problems arise because leaders just try too hard
or become fixated on past working practices which are no
longer appropriate to meet the contemporary demands.
Viktor Frankl says about paradoxical intention, "Our good
intentions actually become the cause of our failure." |
