The work of the compulsive manager is characterized by perfectionism, rigid
opinions and over-the-top industriousness. Workaholics are always busy but
rarely effective, as these managers lack vision, imagination and decisiveness.
In compulsive personality organizations, an intense mistrust exists between the
leaders and lower positions. The organization relies on formal directions,
bureaucracy and direct supervision instead of trust and enthusiasm. Managers
lead with complex rules systems instead of by personal example. Business
policies are oriented towards the compulsive person at the top rather than
towards objective requirements, and independent thinkers are quickly smoth-
ered. The heavily internal focus prevents decision-makers from considering the
larger picture and thus stymies processes of renewal.
Dysfunctional leaders like these can steer businesses onto a vicious circle,
starting with sinking employee morale, a high turnover rate, a high illness rate
and low job satisfaction. All of this results in bad performance throughout the
organization, sinking profits, increasing costs and decreasing share prices. The
organization then responds by laying off employees, freezing salaries, reducing
investments in training, and hiring temps, further eroding employee morale and
bringing a new turn in the vicious circle. Manfred Kets de Vries convincingly
shows how neurotic behavior on the part of the manager impacts their
relationships with those they lead and thereby causes the business to fail. In
the next chapter, we will examine precisely these interactions.2.3 The Relationship Between Leader and Led
Good leadership stands and falls with the people led.As already stated, leadership is not only business management, but primarily
consists in leading people. Leadership aims at achieving harmony between the
potentially conflicting goals of the organization and the employees. Even the best
manager will fail if their authority is not acknowledged by their employees.
Manager and employees must have good “chemistry,” and managers must also fit
well with their own superiors and with customers.
For this reason numerous books covering the subject of leadership focus on those
being led and their influence on the success of leadership. In the past few years, a
major change has taken place that leadership practice is only slowly beginning to
take into account.
2.3.1 From Subordinate to Associate
Leadership always depends on the people involved, i.e., it depends on certain basic
assumptions about human nature. The way I deal with someone, how I evaluate
their behavior and react to it, depends crucially on how I perceive them.
76 2 Occupation or Calling: What Makes for Good Leadership?