Leadership Derailment and the Goldilocks’ Curve
I often refer to the concept of leadership derailment when working with individuals or groups. In fact, one of my Leadership Reprise Training Sessions (LRTS) focuses exclusively on the topic of derailment – specifically on how not to get derailed. What is a leadership derailer?
The definition I prefer:
A derailer is a personality attribute or behavior that is productive when operating at a normal level but becomes negative when operating at an extreme level. Said differently, a derailer is a strength overplayed, a strength that crosses a boundary and becomes a liability.
Before moving too much further, let me credit the original researchers around this topic, McCall and Lambardo (1983), who coined the term “derailer” as part of their work for the Center for Creative Leadership.
The original research identified six categories of leader behavior that frequently took managers from the fast track to the side-track. Actually, current thinking is these behaviors take managers completely out of contention for higher-level positions.
- Arrogance
- Insensitivity to Others
- Detail Focus – Too Low/High
- Not Using Staff
- Lack of Strategic Thinking
- Technical Performance
After conducting the LRTS workshop numerous times in both the corporate world and the faith/non-profit world, I continue to be surprised how often participants focus on technical ability as the key to success; that moving forward in a career is predicated on technical performance. And it does up to a point – after all it is on the original list of derailers! But a quick categorization of the six derailing behaviors results in three simple “buckets”:
People Related
- Arrogance
- Insensitivity to Others
- Not Using Staff
Intrapersonal
- Detail Focus – Too Low/High
- Lack of Strategic Thinking
Technical
- Technical Performance
Simple math tells the story here. Do you want to move forward in your career? Then focus on the people side!
Space constraints don’t allow me to go through the entire list in detail, but let’s start at the top and discuss arrogance. We all have a good idea what arrogance looks like, particularly in the work place and likely agree it can be a career killer. You might even be thinking about an arrogant co-worker you’re hoping gets derailed real soon! But let’s not just think about the derailing aspect of the underlying behavior. If arrogance is a strength overplayed, what’s the corresponding strength? It’s likely best expressed by the term confidence. Looking at this on a continuum, there is also a personality attribute on the the complete opposite side of arrogance – let’s call it low self-esteem. Low self-esteem reduces performance but a normal level of confidence enhances performance. Moving along the continuum, confidence overplayed becomes arrogance, which leads to derailment. Business psychologists like to call this a curvilinear relationship – I prefer the “Goldilocks’ curve,” i.e., a certain amount is just right (warm), but too little (cold) or too much (hot) ruins the porridge or worse, your career. Perhaps the chart below will help you visualize the concept.
The Goldilocks’ Curve
Consider some of the other personality attributes and behaviors on this list. Attention to detail, is there a Goldilocks’ curve here? Absolutely! Too little suggests carelessness or disengagement, too much appears compulsive and doesn’t allow time to focus on important things. There is definitely a “just right” amount of attention to detail which will enhance our career and performance. If you examine the remaining derailers you can quickly establish the pattern and determine the need for the Goldilocks amount of each personality trait.
So what do you do with this information? How do you keep from getting derailed and stay on the positive side of the Goldilocks’ curve? Clearly a quick fix approach is not appropriate here. But a good place to start is with self-assessment, taking time to really examine your own personal behavior, values, and motives. Partnering with a trusted friend or advisor to help with this examination can also be productive. Be mindful of this information and where you are on the Goldilocks’ curve. Then you can decide if you’re at risk and need to make some changes!