4 REFLECTIONS ON CHARACTER AND LEADERSHIP
feel imposturous, a very prevalent condition among the best and the
brightest.
At a certain stage in the ‘ Challenge of Leadership ’ program that I
run at INSEAD for top executives, each participant is obliged to take
the ‘ hot seat ’ and present themselves to the others, telling their own
story in their own words. It is a challenge to present your life in a struc-
tured way, identifying some of the signifying moments that made you
the person you are. It is a fantastically cathartic thing to tell your own
story with up to 22 people listening to you, but it ’ s risky and it needs a
very skilled facilitator to manage it. Because everyone wants to do this,
the end result is a group of people who all have a stake in each other ’ s
personal development; they have in a way touched each other and
created a very rich kind of information network. Vicarious listening can
be very powerful. And what everyone realizes as a result of this process
is, ‘ My God, I ’ m not alone. ’ I hear this over and over again, the calling
card of the neurotic impostor — which is quite different from the real
impostor. All those successful, senior people have a mass of insecurities
welling up inside them. They are so hard on themselves, putting them-
selves down, lowering their self - esteem and beating themselves up all
the time — must do better, must get better results. I say that everyone is
normal until you know them better — but we all have some issues we
have to deal with. And it comes out in the end; it ’ s there for everyone
to see.PLAYING THE ORGANIZATIONAL FOOL
On many occasions I have been asked to present certain painful issues,
which have dragged on for years, to the power holders in an organiza-
tion. These issues have often been put on the back burner for far too
long, where they are conveniently forgotten by executives afraid to bear
unwelcome news. This is where it ’ s useful to know how to play the wise
fool (the morosophe) and extend people ’ s capacity for reality - testing.
The fool I ’ m talking about is the age - old fi gure who acts as a foil
for the leader — and every leader needs one. Down through the ages,
fools played a traditional role, stabilizing the perspective of kings, emper-
ors, and other rulers. For example, there is the wise Fool in Shakespeare ’ s
King Lear , the guardian of reality for Lear and audience. The fool cus-
tomarily shows the leader his refl ection and reminds him of the transi-
ence of power. He uses antics and humor to prevent foolish action and
groupthink. Humor humbles. It creates insights. That makes it a very
powerful instrument for change. Let me illustrate this with a story: a