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Examine the Dark Side of your Leadership

Since working with leaders during the stressful period over the last 18 months, I’ve become interested in research that suggests your key strengths as a leader may well have a mirror image that produce major flaws in your style of leadership.


Research by Hogan and others (2007) seeks to uncover leaders’ dark sides by analysing what derails them under pressure. The research, conducted amongst 11,000 leaders in the UK, identified 11 “derailers” - strengths which turned into flaws under pressure.


In reality, each of these derailers is actually a potential leadership strength. The derailment occurs when the strength is overused. This is likely to happen when the leader’s confidence is too high, when they are inexperienced, or when they are under extreme pressure.



It is interesting to note that these strengths exist within many leaders as complete dimensions i.e. they possess the ability to display both the strength and the shadow side. We learn to manage the shadow side as we gain experience and stay grounded. Quite literally, we become skilled at mastering and controlling some of our less effective (and less attractive) impulses.


From Strengths --> Potential Derailers 

  1. Enthusiastic --> Volatile. Inconsistent behaviour - from enthusiastic to moody.
  2. Shrewd --> Mistrustful. Others think you are prone to retaliate when you feel you have been wronged.
  3. Careful --> Cautious. Overly cautious, rule-bound, and unwilling to take chances.
  4. Charming --> Manipulative. Hard to advise, or might not evaluate the consequences of your decision.
  5. Vivacious --> Dramatic. Over committed, impulsive and unwilling to listen - especially to negative feedback.
  6. Imaginative --> Eccentric. Although creative, there is a tendency to be impulsive and eccentric.
  7. Independent --> Detached. Self-sufficient, indifferent to feedback. May appear uninterested in other’s problems.
  8. Focused --> Passive Aggressive. Inflexible, stubborn. May appear reluctant to be part of a team.
  9. Confident --> Arrogant. Strong sense of entitlement. Opinionated, self-absorbed, unwilling to learn from mistakes.
  10. Diligent --> Perfectionist. Organised, but your determination to do well every time makes you stubborn.
  11. Dutiful --> Dependent. Careful to please your superiors, yet you find it difficult to make decisions on your own.


So, how can we manage some of the shadow side characteristics of our leadership? Here are some guidelines that might prove useful:

  • Maintain an awareness of your personal strengths and potential shadow side behaviours.
  • Remain humble and grounded about your strengths
  • Be careful of rapidly promoting individuals and simply assuming they will go from strength to strength. They are likely to take this as a cue that their strengths are valuable, and that they should use them more forcefully.


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Part 3: Accelerate Performance With Strategic Alignment - Develop The Appropriate Culture

By Norman Chorn • March 27, 2023
In my previous article "Accelerate Performance with Strategic Alignment - Define the logic of your strategy", we demonstrated the alignment between the market and business strategy by matching the logic of the market with the logic of the strategy. The Explore logic emphasises a market where customers seek new solutions for emerging requirements. The strategy responds by exploring new opportunities and driving for growth. The Exploit logic occurs in a more stable market where customers seek lower costs and reliability of supply. The appropriate strategy focuses on operational efficiency and building close customer relationships. Culture is key to shaping the capabilities of the business to successfully implement strategy . It drives the way that people behave, decisions are made and actions are taken. It determines, therefore, the strategy that is actually realised in the market, as opposed to that which is merely intended. We make a key distinction between the desired culture and the appropriate culture. The desired culture is what people may choose because it sounds attractive and in vogue. However, the appropriate culture is the culture that is required to successfully implement the chosen strategy. Often, these can be different. For example, people might seek to develop a culture that is ‘innovative’, ‘flexible’ and ‘empowering’, but this may not be the appropriate culture needed to successfully implement the business strategy. DEVELOP THE APPROPRIATE CULTURE FOR YOUR STRATEGY Developing the appropriate culture requires a deliberate emphasis on certain cultural attributes and making trade-offs on others. As we will see, the attributes that are traded off are usually the opposites of those that are emphasised.
2 puzzle pieces

Part 2: Accelerate Performance with Strategic Alignment - Define the Logic of your Strategy

By Norman Chorn • March 27, 2023
In Part 1 "How to Accelerate Performance with Strategic Alignment - Understand the Logic of the Market" we outlined different market conditions and defined them in terms of two overarching logics — Exploring and Exploiting . To briefly recap, an Exploring logic is one where customers are seeking new solutions for emerging needs. It’s all about change and action. An Exploiting logic occurs in a more stable market in which the issues are about lowering costs and working collaboratively with customers. It’s a market that focuses on stability and cohesion. FORCES THAT SHAPE YOUR STRATEGY Clearly, it is one of these two logics — or a combination of both — that will shape your strategy as you operate in these markets. See figure 1 below that describes how these logics will form your business strategy:
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