An recent article in the on-line edition of The Wall Street Journal speaks to the issue of executives engaged in career transition and succession planning and how many Baby Boomers are struggling to transition themselves from the executive suite and back onto the street.
The article speaks mainly to the rise in popularity of CEOs who wish to remain on payroll either due to a lack of retirement planning or simply the fear of no longer being a Very Important Person. The piece also describes how a shift in leadership in some companies actually created chaos and resulted in the departure of several senior team members.
What surprises me about this article is that it doesn't address the root causes of these issues: self-esteem and the lack of it.
Face it, in corporate cultures today we place a high and unrealistic regard for our senior staff. As you move up to the top of the ladder in many places, not only do the paychecks get bigger, but also the perks, which feed on the egos of far too many a CEO who often learns to take him or herself far too seriously. Drive into the garage of some of our larger corporations and you'll see that the entitlement begins in the parking lot: reserved spaces close to the door as if leadership shouldn't have to walk more than 20 paces to enter the castle where they rule on high.
The open-ended expense accounts, the travel perks, the use of plush limo services, the free tickets to sporting events and sitting the company box, and the Executive restrooms all tend to feed the ego. And the reason why so many executives are having issues concerning their pending retirement is that without the all important job title, the endless pampering and the constant care and feeding of their personalities, many leaders truly lack healthy-self esteem. Most executives tell me that without their jobs, many of them would truly not know what to do with themselves. One CEO admitted to me that he devotes himself to work because he has no idea how to relate to his wife or children (most likely because he cannot control their fates in the same way he does for his executive team and thousands of staff!). His identity is so closely tied with his job; he has no idea who he really is outside of his work. This, unfortunately, is a sad reality when we scan the halls of our Fortune 1000 companies.
While there may be major increases in technology, new and improved ways to engage customers and a surplus of ideas on how to improve businesses, there's an epidemic lack of self-esteem that begins at the top of the organization and trickles down to the front-line rank and file managers. Think about those wonderful folks at Enron or Tycom, or America's most famous hotel diva, Leona Helmsley. It's not that these people were ultimately too greedy or mean, it's that they all lacked healthy self-esteem and a highly imbalanced sense of self-esteem often leads to behaviors which appear cruel, vicious, and generally evil. Your self-esteem impacts your corporate policies, your culture and climate and your customer satisfaction.
Don't believe me?
Ask the person on the other line of the phone as to why they don't sound too enthused about providing stellar customer service the next time you want to dispute a charge on your credit card bill and you might find out that some executive has administered an unrealistic policy that doesn't allow people to take rest room breaks until call volumes reach a certain level. Ask yourself what kind of company would do that and why such a policy would exist. You'll find you can just go the top of the organization to find out that fear, which comes from low esteem, is the culprit that induces such ridiculous policies.
There are a lot of metrics and policies and office politics that come about because someone takes their power far too seriously and feels they have to control every aspect of their people to maintain their existence at the top of the heap. And while you might think I'm over-exaggerating, just look at how women still make less on the dollar than men do, how some organizations still can't manage their race relations, and why executives do all they can to tread lightly around the issues of domestic partner benefits for fear it's making a statement about advocating rights for gays, lesbians and transgendered employees. Dig a bit deeper and you'll find self-esteem is at the core of all these issues!
Another clue that your self-esteem might be creating some issues is to look at how much you use the word DESERVE. People with self-esteem issues often feel as if they deserve something to make up for the lack of respect they have for themselves. Watch how often people say "I deserved that promotion more than her," "I have been here for ten years and he's only been here for five, I should be the new Director," or my personal favorite "I'm the boss around here, you do as I say and not as I do."
I suggest leaders start examining their relationship to their self-esteem every day and discover how it shows up. One way is to ask yourself "where do I lose power in my life." Think about your decisions and discern whether or not you're acting from a place of confidence and heart or a place of fear. There is a difference. You can also ask "where could I potentially be doing harm with my power." That can be a real eye-opener for some! The main thing is to start looking at the role your self-esteem plays in the thoughts you have, the choices you make, and the behaviors used to carry them out. And realize that this is not always easy to do--even when you're onto the notion that something now needs to change.
Self-esteem is one of the major challenges you'll ever face in your lifetime. In fact, I think it ranks up there as one of the most important things you need to learn how to manage--even more important than having competencies such as strong interpersonal skills, decision-making abilities and a sense of vision. Without healthy self-esteem, the rest of these are truly not possible.
Over the years I've coached a lot of clients and ultimately self-esteem is what shows up as the real issue I need to address. It is something you can learn to develop, but it requires a lot of letting go and taking on full accountability for your thoughts and actions. And the reality is, your self-esteem will always be a moving target--you just have to learn how to engage with it in a very productive way.
Whether you're at the beginning of your leadership career or you're facing the inevitable stepping down to join the gainfully post-employed, I encourage you to spend some time with your self-esteem now and really learn how to work with it as opposed to letting it left unattended to create chaos throughout every aspect of your entire company. That kind of succession planning only results in one thing: total extinction.
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