Feature Article - April 2008

Hoist with his own personality:

Spitzer's train wreck holds lessons for everyday leaders as well

                                                                                                                                                  by Tom Davidson

Before you look away from the train wreck that is the Eliot Spitzer story, take one more peek…at yourself.  It is easy to distance ourselves from his case because the extent of deceit, irony and moral turpitude is foreign to most of us.  Also, his conflagration was so grandiose that it is difficult to unravel, solely from a leadership perspective.  However, there is a common thread that links Spitzer to all of us who step into leadership capacities.  It is the nature of our personalities and how our tendencies can suddenly go from being assets in some situations to extreme liabilities in others. 

His own petard

Shakespeare’s proverbial phrase, to be “hoist with his own petard,” is an apt description of former Governor of New York Eliot Spitzer’s derailment.  Shakespeare’s phrase means to be blown up by one’s own bomb.  Leadership derailment means to become ineffective because of one’s own personality.  According to psychologist Robert S. Hogan, we all have some ingrained negative behavior patterns that are at the same time acceptable (even relative strengths) in some situations and unacceptable (even derailing weaknesses) in others. 

This is particularly true when moving into positions of leadership.  As individual contributors, our derailers have much less effect on our results because we are not leading others.  They become more evident in leadership positions when under stress, experiencing a change in responsibility and/or there is poor job-person fit. Unless we are made aware of our own leadership derailers early, they will eventually (a) sub optimize our success, (b) prematurely plateau our careers, or (c) “blow us up,” in utter career failure, as was the case with Spitzer.

Spitzer’s derailers

Dr. Hogan’s list of derailers includes the following, many of which are evident in the Spitzer case files:  excitable, skeptical, cautious, reserved, leisurely, bold, mischievous, colorful, imaginative, diligent and dutiful.   Each of these has an admired upside; in fact, people are sometimes promoted (or elected) based on these traits.  However, their downside often blindsides aspiring managers.  Taken to an extreme, the same attributes that helped them succeed, now lead to their demise. 

Based on my experience coaching hundreds of such executives and the plethora of evidence from media reports, these are the most likely derailers in the Spitzer case, some of which might by yours, too:

Bold.  Confidence is a desirable trait among leaders, and Spitzer apparently had a deep reservoir of this competency from an early age.  However, when taken to an extreme, this became arrogance, which undermined his ability to mobilize others.  It was even apparent in his terse public apology and the lack of apparent supporters in his final days in office.

Mischievous.  Effective leaders also know when to bend the rules without breaking them outright; this being sometimes necessary to be an agent of change.  Taken to the extreme again, Spitzer wielded power far beyond the limits of his office and broke numerous and clear rules of professional and personal conduct, apparently thinking he was above the law.   Another famous New Yorker with this derailer, Leona Helmsley, once said, “Taxes are for little people.”

Excitable.  Spitzer’s high energy was admirable, taking on numerous projects and problems with vigor; however, his temper (when excitable goes to the extreme) had become legendary.  His common excuse for this was to say, “You don’t change the world by whispering.”  His outbursts, profanity and threats made him disliked and unapproachable, even by would-be supporters.

Colorful.  Attractive leaders often have a “larger than life” persona; when they enter the room, everyone knows they are there.  This flare for the dramatic has its place in the repertoire of leadership, but it also has a dramatic downside.  It was no secret that Spitzer had been a self-promotion machine for some time; it was usually all about him and his future political career.  Spitzer no doubt delighted in Time magazine’s title of “Crusader of the Year,” Fortune magazine’s “the Enforcer,” and Atlantic Monthly’s reference to him as “a rock star.”  Folks with this derailer call too much attention to themselves, taking the spotlight off of others, taking credit that should be shared, and making themselves the center of attention. 

It is not uncommon for leaders to show signs of more than one derailer, depending upon the nature of the stress.  These were just the most visible in this case; others may have been present as well.

Manage your weaknesses

Whether you are a first-line supervisor or CEO, if you are a leader, then your role is to build and maintain effective teams.  To do this, you must accurately know yourself first.  Even the most ethical people can be hoisted with their own personalities, but this can be avoided if you:

• Are smart enough to know that there is a correlation between personality and leadership.
• Are aware of your own naturally occurring strengths and weaknesses.
• Care about how your tendencies impact others.
• Know what to do differently.
• Are proactive at leveraging your strengths while managing your weaknesses.

Without managing your weaknesses, you might not be around to leverage your strengths.  Call me for more information about discovering your own derailers.

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