Page 79 - Fearless Leadership

66 FEARLESS LEADERSHIP

Lesson Learned. Barrett’s need to be right was stronger than his
need to be effective. He unwittingly sacrificed his career to tena-
ciously hold onto his entrenched position.

Companies frequently resort to the easy solution of marginalizing a
leader who does not work effectively with others. The leader in jeopardy
is isolated, where there is no hope for permanent and positive change.
Everyone knows what has happened but pretends the move is “for the
good of the company.”
Why do leaders despise being wrong? They fear losing credibility and
the respect of others, and they can’t bear feeling inadequate or embarrassed
or experiencing shame.
The behavioral prognosis is not good: you will fight to be right regard-
less of the cost to your effectiveness.

THE DEADLY COMBINATION: THE NEED TO BE
RIGHT AND BLIND SPOTS
The need to be right is designed to protect you from perceived threats and
keep you out of harm’s way. Blind spots are driven by the need to be right
and are your first line of defense to help you cope with challenging situ-
ations. Think of blind spots as your “army of behaviors” that is cleverly
designed to take the heat off of you and put it on others. They strategi-
cally divert attention and help you stay below the radar in a low-risk and
fortified position.
Blind spots and the need to be right have a single, unifying purpose:
they are designed to avoid accountability. They allow you to roam freely
without being accountable for much of anything.
You probably consider yourself to be a highly accountable person. Most
leaders tell us they are, and from a surface examination, they appear quite
respectable and responsible. However, when we drill down to their auto-
matic behaviors—their blind spots—leaders discover a whole new mean-
ing to the word accountability.
What we call accountability today is another word for deflection. We
have become so accustomed to accepting a low standard of behavior—
one that I wager is significantly lower than your own personal values—
that we no longer notice it.