There were two realities that co-existed-while the boss had a mild conversation about him displaying the wrong set of behaviors, he was continuing to reward him on business achievements. Therefore, the CEO’s interpretation of the situation was that so long as he is achieving the business numbers, the rest is acceptable to the organization.

I was called in to address the issue completely from the outside, was given a much-diluted brief of the issues /challenges that his direct reports were having with him, basically a toned-down communication of his de-railers. He clearly did not see a problem, because he was being recognized at the highest levels for his contribution to the business. He felt the real issue was about getting him to perform even more, rather than un-do the wrong he was doing. 

It was a very typical situation, yet the question that presented itself was whether it was redeemable situation. He was intellectually superior than most, was overdoing the Intellectual Horsepower. He had good decision-making and problem-solving skills and would willingly take on a lot of others’ work, with little or no regard to any aspect of delegation or empowerment. This was leading to a lot of disenchantment at the senior management level.

The CEO had a huge drive for results which got highlighted as it came with command skills which proclaimed in no uncertain terms who is leading the pack, albeit dictatorially.  Who would be comfortable working with someone who called most of the shots? He was low on most of the relationship skills-clearly insensitive to others, arrogant beyond words, and defensive (with an aggressive note), and had every defensive script one might imagine. I played back some of the experiences his direct reports had with him and shared with me: though it made him decidedly uncomfortable, but as he heard these out, he was unlikely to figure ‘the real feedback’ and consequently least inclined or motivated to act.

I drew parallels between his professional and personal life. I embarked upon a dialogue on his children, and how would he describe his relationship with them. He struggled to communicate that his relationship was strained, and he considered his son to be a complete wastrel. They were unable to talk to each other and were seeking help from a counselor but with no results. As I harked back to some of the conversations that I had with his colleagues, which clearly talked of his disregard of people, their feelings, his obnoxious comments to them…all in all spelling out a strong case for him to change, he was unable to see a mirror.