The Profile of a Good Leader - A Recipe for Success

We are all a strange mixture of character traits and personality profiles that make us who we are. But when it comes to leadership we need a more specific recipe for success.


As with greatness, some of us were born as leaders, some will learn about leadership and others will have leadership thrust upon them.


So, what is the best recipe to make a good leader? Let me propose some of the most prominent characteristics we look for in a good leader;


Self Awareness
You need to know who you are. You need to know the extent of your abilities, strengths and weaknesses. You need to know what you are capable of doing and how you are going to accomplish success and that includes knowing the gaps in your knowledge and your limitations.


Armed with this knowledge and the power it conveys, you are more capable of accomplishing big things in a bigger world. Even if you are physically small and frail, your power and self determination will carry you to great heights.


Confidence
Are Leaders really fearless? Do they always carry with them the strong conviction that they cannot fail? Unfortunately not, but they do have a dependable 'game face' that potrays a confident, business-like manner. The ability to repeatably portray confidence to an external audience, will carry others along in the excitement and will achieve better results than you might otherwise expect.


Self-Esteem
In many leaders the sense of worth and esteem is directed at the 'target' of their focus, their cause, those they serve and work alongside. They know the value of self-esteem and self-belief and will instill it in others at every opportunity.


A Sense of Urgency
Sometimes this is described as a 'divine impatience' that surrounds all your activities. 'So much to do and so little time to accomplish it.' A drive to rectify an imperfect world can lead to long hours and late nights, which need to be managed to prevent 'burnout' or 'exhaustion.'


A Personal Mission
This follows very closely on with the previous evangelistic aims of a good leader and, in the case of Mother Teresa and others, can be directly linked to a religious or spiritual conviction.


Having a Magnetic Personality
Good leaders do have magnetic personalities and people are naturally drawn to them. This may be partly to do with good leaders having strong personal skills and partly to do with 'followers' wanting to be in the winning team. Either way, good leaders are surrounded by eager faces, and can motivate and rally people, even in very difficult circumstances.


Validation
Good leaders will very rarely compare themselves to others. It is not necessary for them to seek validation or approval from others. This is not who they are. This does not mean that they do not share and discuss decisions with others whose opinions they respect, but they are capable of taking a unique view and following it through. This may be why committees and good leadership do not fit well together.


Consistency
Being single minded, reliable and consistent is a key trait of good leaders. People will feel safer and more secure with a leader whose actions can be predicted and anticipated, than a moody 'loose cannon.' This is even the case when the leader is strong, demanding and 'difficult' to please, from a 'followers' viewpoint.


Calm and Serene
If you can keep your head when all around are losing theirs and blaming it on you, .....there is a good chance that you do not have all the facts. Seriously though, a good leader needs to be calm in the face of adversity.


It is not as difficult as it sounds because you are taking a very different, more strategic perspective on the situation and can openly question and select the tactics being proposed for an amicable resolution.


You, as leader have the authority and the responsibility to resolve situations and this can be a very comfortable position to be in. So, stop waiting for a new leader to be born or trained up because leadership is being thrust upon you.

Leadership takes many shapes

It Takes the 'Right Stuff' to be a Good Leader. Do you have it?

You see here the Fantasy character Buzz Lightyear, recently returned from a tour of duty in the ISS. Carried there and back by one of the NASA astronauts, in the Shuttle Discovery. Science Fiction Fantasy meets Science Reality. The one a parody of the other.

We all know that there are many paths to follow that lead from Fantasy to Reality. The story of science fiction evolving into science fact can only happen when dedicated visionaries lead the way.

What do we look for in our leaders and how often do we find the 'right stuff'.

In depth knowledge, self confident and self-awareness has always been necessary to build good leaders but it was never enough. You also had to have the 'right stuff'. You need the ability and character to inspire, support and motivate before you can ultimately lead.

It may not be fashionable and it may not be 'the new, new thing' but the adage that the Leadership Model follows a hierarchy similar to that of Maslow's hierarchy of needs, is still relevant and very pertinent today.

Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs starts at the lowest level, with meeting basic neeeds before moving on to addressing issues with Safety and Security. Once that has been achieved, you can take into consideration the higher goal of finding and sharing Love, Affection and the sense of Belonging. The next step is to achieve Status and Esteem before finally climbing up to and sitting on the top of the world, brim full of Self Awareness, sometimes known as Actualisation.

Organisations still need Self-Aware leaders but there are no shortcuts. We need leaders who are able to progress through all the stages and completely fulfill the lower level needs. It's not acceptable to be a self confessed leader if you do not fully understand and accept the 3 dimensional nature of leadership and the voyage to the top that took you there.

Let's look back at the precipitous journey you are on or possibly, you have already completed.

1) Basic Wants/ Physiological Needs
At the base root of all organisation some core wants have to be addressed. They include the tools needed to survive and thrive. This is the core technical skills, in the leadership model. Clearly, if you want to be a Finance Manager, you need to know how to perform accounting tasks and understand the associated practices. Many skills are needed to sel but the main one will be the ability to be erudite.

All one needs to demonstrate, to future employers is that you have the core skills to do the job. Most leaders get promoted to successive levels of leadership through technical mastery but by being technically competent alone does not give them the skills or ability to be exceptional and charismatic leaders.

2) Safety & Security
Leaders need to provide their organisational units with structure and a competent framework to operate in. They need to develop the hierarchy, roles and responsibilities and, most importantly they need to provide the organisational employees with the criteria and opportunity to be successful.

To clamber up to the second level of leadership, a good leader must provide his team with the precise operational model that will make them not only feel secure but also instil a philosophy of positive attitude and how to approach success.

Poor leaders rely heavily on their ego to direct them. They believe that they can be the all powerful king in the midst of disarray and chaos. They think they are controlling and directing the masses but in reality they are burning valuable resources, whilst lurching from crisis to crisis.

A good leader creates the framework where every employee not only feels secure operating in and focusing on his job but also has a repeatable chance of being creative and successful. They have the chance to stretch themselves and not fear the consequences of loss or failure because their leader is there to guide and support them, throughout. They do their job well and the organisation benefits.

3) Love, Affection and Belonging
This builds on from the creation of a safe and secure environment and leads us into the need and ability to foster cohesive teamwork. The basic requirements here is that the leader needs to ensure that his team players are working well together but he also has to ensure that his team plays well within the whole organisation and can work well with 'others'.

You are not provided with the chance to model a team from a single piece of clay. you have to build this team from the wide assortment of characters and personalities that this world provides. Even after the skilled HR department has carefully filtered,selected and processed the candidates.

You have a team of disparate (or desperate) people from different backgrounds, brought together for a common purpose and it is your challenge to make them interact in a positive, productive and interactive way by building good, strong relationships.

Poor or weak leadership can easily create divisions, within and without your locality. It is so easy to create a self-protective silo mentality that spends too much energy and time defending itself from outside 'influences' and gets caught up in 'power' struggles. What you don't want is to be a stressed out head of a dysfunctional family unit that is feuding with it's neighbours. You need to actively create a common sense of purpose that transcends boundaries and divisions.

4) Esteem
As we mature in our organisational interactions with others, professional respect and appropriate response, may be all that really matters. For a leader to be considered a good leader, this respect has to be born of an independent outlook and a strong vision. Discard fear and intrepidation, actively and sincerely appreciate what every person is bringing to the table.

A good leader will not give respect lightly. You will need to prove your worth through your commitment and your actions. Talk alone does not do it. A good leader looks at the role you play in the organisation and will treat you with the respect the role commands, unless or until, you prove unworthy of it.

5) Self-Awareness
Do you consider yourself to be a 'good well balanced, human being'. Self Awareness is 'presence', 'authority', 'charisma', 'qudos', etc. The ability a leader possess, by the sheer power of his positive presence. One in which he is able to hold a clear vision, taking a higher road that puts the interests of his organisation to the fore.

The self-aware leader never takes credit for the actions of their team, there is no 'gray area of interpretation' on morals or ethics. A self-aware leader is in the spotlight 24x7, laid bare before the organisation, always on call for their people.

A good leader is inspiring and consistent in their judgement. They are fair, balanced and trustworthy. People are driven and motivated by a good leader. They respect them but are not diminished or intimidated by them.

If you know a good organisations that is looking for good leaders. Tell them to clearly and honestly, examine their true requirements and goals. The 3 dimensional levels of needs that they want to meet and satisfy.

Remember that truly successful organisations must be led by thoroughly 'good human beings', people of good character. These are the only people who will lead us from deception and fantasy into the harsh reality of the future, and they will deal with it appropriately, when we get there.

Women as Leaders, Bosses and Managers

Do Men or Women Make Better Bosses?Fair or Not, Employees Have Gender Biases About Bosses

My first boss was a man twice my age. He taught me how to write a headline, punch up a lede and copyedit my stories. He also made inappropriate comments about my legs on a weekly basis, despite the fact that I kept them hidden under frumpy, ankle-length skirts.

My next boss was a year older than me. When she hired me to do her filing and data entry, she promised me a raise in a year. When my 18th month rolled around and she still couldn't get approval for my pay bump, she called me into her office and proceeded to cry on my shoulder.

Then she went to lunch with her manager pals like she always did, while I ate a tuna sandwich at my desk.

Like many, I've worked for bosses of all stripes over the years, from the woefully inept to the thrillingly supportive to the borderline psychotic. Some of my best bosses were men; some were women. Same goes for the worst of the bunch; each gender's been well represented there, too.

That's why when I first read the recent New York Times interview with Elle Group executive Carol Smith, who insisted women make better managers, I bristled. How can women ever expect men (and for that matter, other women) to stop stereotyping female bosses as shrews, softies or micromanaging morons if we're not prepared to stop stereotyping male managers?

The Double-Bind for Women
Fair or not, people do have their biases. I have an entire inbox of e-mails from workers of both genders telling me why they dislike working for men (too grabby, competitive, uncollaborative) and why they dislike working for women (too weepy, petty, ineffective).

Only now that we've reached the 21st century, women with grumbles about female managers often pepper them with caveats and apologies.

"Although I hate to say it, men are much better to work for," Jane, an office manager, said via e-mail.

Of a previous job at a counseling center, where most of her colleagues were female, she explained, "There was always some kind of drama, gossiping and backbiting going on -- from people who were trained in conflict resolution."

Not so in her current position at a law enforcement unit comprised mainly of men.

"Even considering their high-stress jobs, I've never heard any of the petty complaints, whining about their co-workers and outright hostility that was always taking place at the counseling center," she said.

And some women who've had positive experiences with female managers still said they'd rather have a male boss.

"I have had great bosses of both genders, but I still have a preference to work with men," wrote a corporate trainer who didn't want her name mentioned. "When there is a problem with a male boss, it's normally about the work. When there is a problem with a female boss, it could be the work or something personal. I hate to say it because I am a woman."

And I hate to hear it. Because even today, only 15 percent of executives in Fortune 500 boardrooms are women. And the faster we recognize that some bosses, companies and industries are more toxic than others -- regardless of gender -- the easier it will be for more women to reach the executive suite.

Turning Women Into Men Isn't the AnswerI suspect that no matter how many surveys and studies on the merits of female leaders think tanks and universities churn out, we'll still be having this conversation for years to come.

Sunday's New York Times "Room for Debate" blog post on whether women make better bosses drew hundreds of heated comments from readers, some outraged by the question in the first place, many strictly in favor of either male managers or female ones.

Thing is, so many workers have so little faith in the people they work for, be they male or female. Earlier this year, 52 percent of 3,000 U.S. employees and managers polled by international staffing firm Randstad said there aren't enough qualified managers in their organization.

Unfortunately, failing miserably as a manager is much more of a burden for women, said Jan Combopiano, vice president and chief knowledge officer of Catalyst, a nonprofit that researches women in the workplace.

"If a man fails, you're not going to think it's because of his gender," she said. But, she explained, that's not necessarily the case if a female boss falls flat on her face.

There's no denying that, in general, men and women have different communication styles. (Witness the dozens of letters in my inbox about less-than-nurturing male managers and female bosses who have difficulty giving a direct order.) Yet any workplace consultant will tell you that managing well is a skill that can be learned, no matter what your anatomy.

"We're never going to make men into women and vice versa," said Betty Spence, president of the National Association for Female Executives. "We really need both ways of seeing, both ways of thinking. We need the male focus, and we need women's ability to multitask."

In other words, men and women need to collaborate in the workplace and draw on each other's strengths, not try to change every last trait of each other.

"When men are sitting there watching a football game and you walk in naked, they aren't going to see you," Spence said. "We're just going to need to accept it and use it, because that focus is necessary in business."

Ancient history yields modern management lessons

Ancient history yields modern management lessons - ABC News

Looking to iconic figures of history for guidance on how to take charge of today's corporations remains fertile ground for publishers of books on management and leadership.

The new book "Power Ambition Glory: The Stunning Parallels between Great Leaders of the Ancient...
The new book "Power Ambition Glory: The Stunning Parallels between Great Leaders of the Ancient World and Today . . . and the Lessons You Can Learn" by Forbes CEO Steve Forbes and classics professor John Prevas richly details the successes and failures of six leaders from the classical period.
(amazon.com)A recent search of Amazon.com reveals thousands of books with "leadership lessons" in the title.

Management writers have found useful lessons in the lives of such luminaries as Abraham Lincoln, Thomas Jefferson, George Patton, Martin Luther King, Mahatma Gandhi. The roster is endless.

Now comes an addition to the genre, Power, Ambition, Glory: The Stunning Parallels between Great Leaders of the Ancient World and Today ... and the Lessons You Can Learn.

The book reflects a fusion of expertise of the two authors: classics professor John Prevas brings a knowledge of antiquity. Steve Forbes, the chairman, CEO and editor in chief of Forbes, brings a knowledge of management garnered from years in the executive suite.


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Leadership; more skills needed in recession

Trust me! I'm a Leader!

The only way out of a difficult situation is through good positive leadership. It has been a long time since I met a leading figure that I respected. Now I would be satisfied with meeting one that I liked and can spend more than 5 minutes in their company. What qualities do you look for in a good leader in these challenging times? Intelligence, foresight, sobriety, etc.

Re-Introducing
You have heard this introduction before in many guises; money is tight, employee layoffs loom and spirits are dwindling, we're in a recession. So where are the great leaders and orators that will lift us out of this or are we those great leaders, playing out of position. Maybe you should stop looking out for help and start looking inwards. You, as an IT consultant, subject matter expert or executive have the insight and determination to develop and expand your powers to take on the qualities of a good leader. Why do you not take it to the next level?

Same old same old
You have spent all those years keeping your staff engaged and motivated through numerous spirit breaking projects; company mergers, legacy systems upgrades, application server integrations, etc you are well used to meeting the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune seekers. Managing changing expectations in uncertain times is what you do as a day job. Why do you expect others to do it for you? They are far too busy with more important things, like growing their egos, cubicles and their expense accounts.

You, as the leader
Find within you and develop further, the ability to lead and inspire. In times where fear and instability raise their scary heads, people need someone they can feel confident in. Someone who knows in what direction they should be going, in what direction they are actually going and the potential impact of this delta.

All is questions
You don't have all the answers, no-one has but you have a team of experts around you that do. If not then expand your points of reference. There is a vast array of knowledge resources out there. Use them.

When all around are losing theirs
Make yourself the go-to guy, the point of contact and voice of reason. A safe haven where people can go and talk freely. Somewhere they can brainstorm without being rained on. Somewhere they can workshop with sharp tools and smart products. It is your job to make them feel good and go away feeling better about who they are, what they're doing and how they are contributing. People want leaders (strange but true). Look around you and then take a long look in the mirror and ask yourself 'Who else is going to do it?

Develop your listening skills
Be consistent, be effective, be a frequent communicator, but most important of all, be an intelligent listener. Ask good questions, absorb what's being said and appreciate the issue that's being passed to you with the same level of attentiveness and concern as you expect from them.

Short Term benefits
Find the quick wins and short-term benefits to help the team and the organisation. You also need to communicate upwards with the entire leadership team, ensuring that the whole organisation is in agreement and aligned.

Develop your voice
The leadership team as a whole needs to be very committed to the new roadmap. Ask for their buy-in and a demonstration of their unity. After all, you're asking everybody else to do more with less, why not include the management team. There is no room for passengers and overweight expense accounts on this voyage.

Is there real credibility in the operational results you're striving for. Be honest, set achievable expectations and execute on promises, if you want to be taken seriously. You can easily declare 'We pay on results and performance' but don't say it if you can't deliver on it yourself.

Be Captain credible or Rupert realistic
This means striving to deliver better results on projects, more quickly than you may have been accustomed to in the past. How is this possible? No long term projects or milestones allowed. Two- and three-year projects in these recessive times are doomed to fail. The impact on the bottom line has to be shown within 6 - 12 months, for their credibility to be sustained.

Caution, do not pull in the delivery dates too drastically but look at the credible re-structuring of them. Break them into smaller modules, more agile projects, with regular, smaller deliverables that add up to a realistic whole. If you do it right then the sum of the parts will exceed the original whole. It should help you get through the tighter change management and more stringent implementation criteria. You will have witnessed the rapid construction of these recently, safety barriers thrown up by the business to protect themselves from criticism.

Prioritise your priorities
The ability to prioritise is key in these situations, but you have been doing that as a routine anyway. Now think about priorities differently, more like the leader you are. Leadership in a recession requires strong prioritisation skills. Look differently at the expense and capital side and what can get done, as a priority. Look differently at the organisation as a whole and find the core functions that will deliver the short-term results but provide a platform for growth in the future.

The Pareto Principle
Using Pareto's 80-20 principle, closely examine your IT portfolio and determine which 20% of your investments will give you the 80% benefits.

Innovation re-invented
Innovation, creativity, flexibility and the ability to embrace change, isn't that where we have been for the last decade. Unfortunately it was aimed at technological solutions but now its concentrated on finding ways to cut expenses without layoffs. If you let people go now when the financial pictures gets murky, where is the rapid growth and steady recovery going to come from? So, for now, you have to be extra creative in trimming your budget, again.

Jettison excess cargo
Big fat overweight expense accounts are underoing a slimming program. Creative scheduling and cutting executives' perks and pay need to be considered before contemplating employee layoffs. The most agile and productive companies, are completely opposed to layoffs but this is delaying the decision not fixing it. It may lead to having to chew their own limbs off, at a later date.

Layoffs unplugged
Although they believe that layoffs are damaging to motivation i.e. the worst things you could possibly do, and the last tool in the arsenal to pull out, it may become inevitable. A company who begins laying people off, believ that the rest of the people stop worrying about their work and start worrying about themselves and their future. Thus there is a noted drop in productivity in those who remain with the company. Unfortunately they seemed to have accepted the example of a badly handled layoff and I am afraid to say that this may be the norm.

Knowledge losses grow
In past recessions companies laid off workers to please the banks and Wall Street, but when the economy rebounded the costs of finding new hires; recruiting, training and getting them up to speed, was more than the savings that were realised during the layoffs. They also lose the "tribal knowledge" of how things are done in the organization and are doomed to repeat the mistakes of the past.

Leadership qualities
The conventional model of a leader is rather dictatorial. One where they believe themselves to be omnipotent; all powerful, larger than life and always sure and definite in their manly stance. They are defensive, secretive and avoid any signs of weakness or criticism. Doors are locked, blame is dished out and examples are made to 'motivate' the others.

A good leader, is humble, self-effacive and expresses positive self-doubt when appropriate. He is honest in his praise and criticism alike. They admit to their faults when necessary, but if they do this when it is not appropriate, then it will be interpreted as a weakness.

Tigers caged
You may have read recently, if you were not on a tour of another galaxy, that many conventional business executives have been found out to be no more then paper sabre-toothed tigers and have been easily captured in the news; as willing players in long term corporate scandals, requiring mammoth bailouts. Given those negative headlines we are all dearly wishing that our new 'leaders' will aim to provide us with something different.

Teach a man to swim
"'Fish swimming upstream' is a good way to describe people who buck conventional wisdom and don't just go along. The ability to position yourself and your organisation as a sanctuary for good talent. You can spend a lot of time, money and effort seeking out the good people but it is much better if they come to you. Develop the ability to attract, develop and retain top talent.

Networking, networking, networking
Develop a world-class network of your top peers from the IT world, as well as providers and others you've encountered in your business dealings. Get the most out of the resource pools that surround you, whether it's your team, a potential hire, an executive, etc and do not neglect the greater technology community. This is the source of your new promising land.

Don't go overboard
Moderation in all things! Remember that the knowledge, wisdom and resources at our disposal are far bigger and greater than we ever let ourselves imagine. Just scratch the surface and stand back. These are dangerous waters full of monsters and pirates but having jettisoned excess cargo and found all the stowaways, shored up the leaks and established a true course, be prepared to accept eager boarders on this voyage of discovery. Captain, my captain!

Is Blind faith the best approach when not seeing good results?

Leadership; 5 easy steps

Becoming an effective leader has been compared to being in the stock market, in a normal year. You don't make your fortune in one day; you make it daily and weekly, a little bit at a time. What matters most is what you do day after day, over a long period of time. The secret to leadership success is investing in your leadership development, much like letting your financial assets compound. The final result "Leadership Growth" over time.

Are leaders born or made, nature or nurture. The process of leadership is long, complex and has many elements. Respect, dignity, discipline, people skills, vision, emotional strength, opportunity, preparedness and experience are just some of the intangible elements which come into play when talking leadership. Calm assertive personalities.

You can, over a period of time, increase your leadership potential if you can understand and accept the five levels of leadership. They are;

Level One - Leadership From Position
This is the basic level of leadership, square 1. At this level people follow you because they have to. Your ability to lead people is totally geared to your position and does not exceed the lines of your job description or the authority granted to you by the company and your boss. Your security with the company is based on title and position, not talent. They salute the uniform not the man.

To be an effective leader at this level know your job, be prepared to accept responsibility, exercise authority with caution, assess the strengths and short comings of your people, do more than what is expected and challenge people with interesting and tough assignments.

Positional Level is the doorway to leadership and every successful leader must pass through this doorway.

Level Two - Leadership From Respect
At the respect level of leadership people follow you because they want to. The core of Leadership From Respect is that people want to know that you care and understand about them and their viewpoint (empathy). You have to accomplish this before they care about or will consider or value, what you know. People see you as a professional partner, sharing the similar goals and challenges along the way. Leadership will flourish with respect, because respect breeds lasting trusted professional relationships and therefore forms the basis for effective leadership.

To be effective at the respect level, you need to possess (develop) a genuine concern for your people. It is important that you see life through their eyes. Deal thoughtfully and wisely with, apparently difficult people. Cultivate success and make employees successful by setting them up for success. Give them an appetite for it and stand back.

Since leadership from respect is built on professional relationships, it forms the foundation for leadership success.

Level Three - Leadership From Results
People follow you because of what you have done for the company. People admire you for your accomplishments and respect your tenacity. At this point leadership becomes fun. Going to work is fun, work related challenges are seen to be opportunities for a more stable work environment and all tasks have a purpose in the minds of the employees. Good things happen at the results level. Making profit, low employee turnover, higher employee morale and solving problems with ease are some of the items that become evident at this level.

To be an effective leader at this level be prepared to initiate and accept responsibility for growth by developing a purpose and seeing it through to completion. Develop accountability for results, beginning with yourself and ending with your people. Make the difficult decisions that will result in positive long term gains while championing change as a change agent and understanding the need for and the process of change.

Leadership from results is built on admiration and respect for the leader.

Level Four - Leadership From People Development
People follow you because of what you have done for them. It is a leader's responsibility to develop their people to do the work that is expected to contribute future growth opportunities to the company and the people who serve it. People are loyal to you because they see first hand personal growth opportunities for them as well as, the company. Leadership success is underscored by a win - win scenario and a high commitment to success.

To be effective at this level place a priority on developing people. Focus your attention on the fact that people are your most valuable asset and your leadership success will depend on your ability to surround yourself with an inner core of competent people who compliment your leadership style and goals.

Leadership from people development is built on honesty, commitment and loyalty.

Level Five - Leadership From Mentorship
People follow you because they respect you. As a leader you have credibility, you may appear larger than life and your success is shown through a life of proven accomplishments. People seek you out after you have left the company because you have left an indelible mark on the organisation, its employees and its clients. Although less than five per cent of all leaders will attain this level of leadership, it is a level worth striving for.

In summary, everyone can become a good or better leader. It is important to keep in mind that the higher you want to go up the leadership scale, the longer it takes to accomplish results and the higher the commitment will need to be. It is imperative that we know what level we are on with our people, the team and the company.

Managing the pack - Leadership

In the absence of good strong definite, disciplined, leadership, subversive elements will move in to take over that position and assume dominance over the pack /team.

These subversives are normally the very ones that are threatened by the lack of leadership and discipline. They need defining rules and boundaries, because they are very insecure. They want to be given direction, to be told what to do and how to do it.

The more independent types will be less concerned about weak management and leadership, because they can manage and lead themselves. They are very at ease with co-operative and supportive behaviour and are the backbone of any pack /team.

Unfortunately subversive leaders are ill-equipped for the leadership or governing role and become more insecure, distressed, unpredictable and aggressive. In the absence of hierarchical controls and strong executive management, subversive managers can easily become abusive and vindictive.

In dogs this shows up as unwanted aggressive behaviour when in contact with other dogs, particularly those of a lower standing in the pack. Pulling aggressively on the lead, in a direction chosen by the dog, to the pain and detriment of the owner. Plus inappropriately attacking everything that comes along, and treating it as if it were a major threat e.g. cats, dogs, postmen, skateboards, etc. It is all driven by fear and lack of confidence in the leadership abilities of the owner.

In managers it is slightly less obvious but not much.

• Loud and disruptive at meetings. (attacks other subordinate members of the pack)
  
• Dominating the conversation (unwanted prolonged barking)
• Averse to change (attacking anything new as if it were a threat)
  
• Aggressively defending their position and ideas (doesn't mix well with others and quick to bite)
  
• Hijacking the strategic plan and moving it in another direction entirely, to the detriment of the company and the annoyance of the executives (pulling on the lead in the wrong direction).

So, how are your pack leaders? Are they calm assertive or excitable aggressive? You hire the employees that you need and you get the managers you deserve. Be the leader of the pack, the one that keeps them under control at all times. That way you can let them of the lead and know you can call them back to heel, when required, and you will not be afraid to have them play with small children, occasionally.

Absolute power corrupts, absolutely!

View Philip Zimbardo's thought provoking presentation on TED.com