Leadership in Action: Issues and Observations—Learning a Lesson in Executive Selection

PERSONALITY WOES

Research shows that managers typically fail for eleven reasonably well-defined personality-based reasons, all of which are associated with an inability to build a team.

Fiorina, for example, displayed an arrogance that resulted in her alienating her staff, ignoring feedback, and blaming failing corporate results on subordinates. O'Neal fell victim to a syndrome that involves toughness, insensitivity to staff morale, and a tendency to use silence as a weapon and to be a loner who avoids communication.

O'Neal has been described in the business press as private, uncommunicative, aloof, steely, unflinching, and brusque. These tendencies led to a number of specific behaviors with negative implications for leadership. For example, ...