THE ALEXITHYMIC EXECUTIVE 73might say that ‘ incrementalism ’ was written on his banner. It was
extremely frustrating for me to see one opportunity after the other slip
away. Eventually I gave up trying anything new. Simon ’ s approach — not
rocking the boat — may have been successful in the past, but by the time
I came on board the industry had been transformed. His wait - and - see
philosophy had become so dangerous that our competitive position was
slipping.
After a while, this sense of stagnation on the job — the fact that I
wasn ’ t learning anything new and couldn ’ t try anything different — began
to haunt me. I fi nally made up my mind to try to get a position in another
part of the organization, and I also put out feelers to a headhunter. When
the headhunter came up with an interesting offer, I jumped at it. After
all, life isn ’ t a rehearsal. Any additional day of work under Simon would
have been a complete waste of time. And I wasn ’ t alone in that feeling;
many other competent people also left the organization because they
lacked stimulation.Managing an alexithymic
People who are managed by alexithymics sense their dullness and
boredom quickly, and they become frustrated when attempts at interac-
tion fail. However, managing alexithymics is equally challenging. Let ’ s
look at the case of Peter. A senior vice - president of a large bank, he was
wondering whether he should fi re Richard, the leader of one of his
project teams.
When I was put in charge of integrating a newly acquired bank with one
of the main operations in our organization, I inherited Richard. He had
been working in the acquired bank ’ s research department; and since that
department was being eliminated, I decided to test Richard ’ s leadership
abilities by putting him in charge of a project team studying the feasibility
of private banking in Eastern Europe. The team ’ s been on the job a few
months now, but there ’ s been very little progress. I asked for, and was
promptly given, a progress report, but it detailed only the sketchiest of
efforts. The only action I can see is people leaving: there ’ s been a disturb-
ingly high turnover rate among the members of Richard ’ s project team.
I fi nd it diffi cult to deal with Richard, in part because he always
speaks and acts stiltedly. At fi rst I attributed his speech pattern to shyness,
and I thought that his formality might be a product of the more rigid
corporate culture he came out of. But now, I think this is only partially
true. Having gotten to know several other executives at the acquired bank,
I realize that these behavioral characteristics are more idiosyncratic. I can ’ t
really put my fi nger on what makes Richard seem so lifeless, but some-
times I feel like kicking him just to see how he ’ d react. I get worn out