Page 177 - The extraordinary leader

154 • The Extraordinary Leader

Failure in this arena appears to have two components. It begins with the
leader’s murky view of the future and precisely what direction to take. It is
compounded by the leader’s unwillingness to take the time to communicate.

4. Loss of trust stemming from perceived bad judgment and poor decisions
When leaders lose the trust of others, it becomes difficult for them to succeed.
Loss of trust occurs several different ways. People begin to distrust a leader
because of poor decisions. They also lose trust because promises made are not
kept. Often they feel that they were taken advantage of and misused.
Galford and Drapeau created a powerful formula to describe trust that
states 1

Credibility Reliability Intimacy
Trust =
Self-interest

This formula expands the elements of trust and helps to explain why trust
is so easily eroded. Credibility describes the degree to which people believe
their leader to be technically competent and to have adequate knowledge about
an issue. Reliability describes the consistency and predictability displayed by
the leader. Intimacy defines the warmth and closeness of the relationship.
(Trust diminishes when subordinates feel an icy, distant aura around the
leader.) Finally, the formula suggests that the three main components all get
divided by the self-interest displayed by the leader. If decisions are made for
personal gain and glory, not the organization’s welfare, then trust plummets.

5. Not a collaborative, team player
Many of the leaders who derailed had a difficult time cooperating with other
leaders. They viewed work as a competition and other leaders as opponents.
Rather than developing positive relationships with peers, they avoided them
and looked for ways to act independently. Their lack of collaboration caused
them to be set adrift without the help or insights of others.
Virtually every study that has been conducted on the impact of competi-
tion versus collaboration has shown that competition loses. Why? Success in
today’s world demands the sharing of information and resources. Competi-
tion erodes and finally destroys that. Competition breeds suspicion and hos-
tility that in turn actively discourage any sharing of information and resources.
Furthermore, trying to do well for the overall organization and trying to beat
an internal competitor are two totally different objectives. Both cannot be met
at the same time. 2