Every Leader Has Flaws. Don’t Let Yours Derail Your Strategy.

The effects of a leader’s personality on an organization’s culture have been long understood. But some personality flaws have a disproportionately negative impact on the quality and execution of strategic choices — in particular, where to focus, how to compete, and what to build (and discard). It might be excitement or fear that reduces their ability to self-regulate their reactions. Instead of thinking clearly, they default to habits influenced by deeper and well-reinforced “personality flaws” — or in some cases, leadership pathologies. These are far more than just annoyances, as they cast a large shadow across their organizations, contributing to failures in the design and execution of strategy. The authors have identified four personality flaws of leaders and their specific impacts on strategy. For each type, they set out mitigating actions leaders can take.