Two speakers argue that autocratic leaders who demand office presence are driven by distrust and damage their own success. Jack Welch's aggressive style is now obsolete. These leaders often leave no successor behind, leaving the organization broken when they leave.
You need this sense of balance of how do we get the best out of the situation? How do we get the best out of the people? And sometimes that, well, I think that each company will find its own balance, but when you get the autocratic person, which I referred to right at the beginning, who says, no, we need them all in the office all the time. That is a control mechanism. Is not one that's being done for the best things in the business.
Well, and I like what you said about the fact that not only control, but it's not trust, it's distrusting of their own people that they have to put the hammer down and be, it's my way or no way. That in itself is a huge issue and a huge implication, not only to the health of the individual, of the employees and the productivity and effic— effectiveness and efficiency, not only to the business, but also to that leader. Because sooner or later, that type of leader is not going to succeed.
Historically, you go back to Jack Welch and all that style. A lot of people still go to his books and quote him and that. So there are still people who hold up that kind of leadership. As the way forward. It has died. Sure. If people haven't heard that, it has died.
So let it die.
But there are still people trying to resuscitate the body because they, they see that great success came out of that. But if you look at a lot of the really amazing, powerful leaders who led like that, when they retired or died or whatever, that there was no one to take over, and it left a vacuum which was actually very, very damaging for, for those organizations.
From Stuck to Leading, Episode 2 — Meet the 5 Inner Fears Destroying Your Leadership
