Actually, let me rephrase the question. “When did self-aggrandizement become such a leadership imperative?” I can’t tell you how many leaders I’ve come across who are overblown with self-importance and overcome with overinflated opinions of themselves. Conversely, I come across way too few leaders who understand the workings of leadership and leadership wisdom that should accompany the role.
I’m convinced, as well, that many of the offending leaders fall into two buckets. Those who are fully aware of their tendencies, but don’t care about the impact and those who are unaware of their behaviours.
So, I want to focus on my preferred interpretation of self-aggrandizement and how I believe it impacts people.
While there are many meanings of the word self-aggrandizement, the one that I favour is self-glorification. It’s when leaders self-assign a lot of praise, achievement, credit and the title of “chief of getting things done around here.” In other words, they are ruled by self-absorption.
A leader driven by self-aggrandizement, revels in having the spotlight shine on him or her at all times.
When this is the mindset that characterizes a leader, how he or she impacts employees and the workplace, is not pretty. In some cases, it can even become a bit perilous for the welfare of the employees of the business.
A leader driven by self-aggrandizement, revels in having the spotlight shine on him or her at all times. This individual has a healthy appetite for attention and may often suck all of the oxygen out of the room, because he or she has a knack for being loud, overconfident and well, taxing on everyone’s nerves.
Let me use some strong language here. This leader may from time to time, extinguish the lights of those around him or her, due to never having learnt how to lift up others, or due to an unwillingness to do so. The motivation can go either way.
Vanity may drive a leader’s appetite for self-aggrandizement.
Believe it or not, this leader may be operating in the domain of the Johari window, known as the façade. In this behavioural space, the individual is driven by fears, insecurities, secrets and whatever else he or she may be hiding from the world. If this leader feels threatened by someone who appears to be smarter, better looking, more popular than him or her, or whose star may be rising a little too fast, the leader may sabotage, criticize or demean the work of this individual, either wilfully or sub-consciously.
Of course, individuals go to great lengths to keep these deficiencies (if known), hidden from view, but this suppression may only serve to provoke the dysfunctional behaviours.
Vanity may drive a leader’s appetite for self-aggrandizement. I suspect that it’s quite heady and, in many cases, difficult to resist the fawning and fandom that comes with the job. I imagine, as well, that to have people ingratiating themselves to be a part of the leader’s orbit, can deliver a bit of an ego-rush.
Enthusiasm becomes stifled in the face of self-aggrandizing behaviours.
What’s enticing for these leaders, is the opportunistic glory that comes with the ability to wield power and authority. They believe that the more grandiose their brand becomes, the more powerful their clout will become in the universe in which they operate. In some symbiotic environments, this works.
Self-aggrandizing behaviours can have a damaging effect in the workplace, by normalizing the self-promoting agendas of some leaders and disregarding the efforts of employees. When these behaviours become endemic, they sow seeds of discord and breed bitterness in the workplace.
Enthusiasm becomes stifled in the face of self-aggrandizing behaviours. Today’s enlightened employee communities are not long-suffering like earlier communities. They will not continue to expend effort, enthusiasm and energy, if they believe that their contributions are being squandered by unappreciative leaders.
In today’s multi-generational workforce, there’s a generation that abhors leaders taking undeserved and unearned credit for outcomes generated through the effort of others. This generation is also not a silent one that will allow what they consider to be leadership misdeeds, to go unchallenged.
It’s a time where business environments will no longer be echo-chambers for promoting the beliefs and desires of self-serving leaders.
As the world goes into one of the most modern eras in history, the rise in enlightened employee communities should not be underestimated. It’s a time where business environments will no longer be echo-chambers for promoting the beliefs and desires of self-serving leaders.
It’s a time that demands that leaders affirm their fitness to lead from an authentic place. This will require some deep, introspective work that will include discovering humility, uncovering blind spots and unmasking hidden propellants of dysfunctional behaviours. That’s what authenticity demands from leaders who want to be forces for good.
I saw a humorous exchange recently on social media, where one person said to another that, “Wisdom is chasing you, but you are outrunning it.”
In this new era, it’s imperative that leaders not outrun leadership wisdom.