Strong, Intelligent,
Intimidating Leader
John Martin, a 51-year-old former college football star was the CEO of
a large manufacturing business. He had grown up in a tough neighborhood
where such success was not normally an option. Since taking the reins ten
years ago, he had grown the business to be extremely successful in the
international marketplace. The company was more successful, in fact, than
he ever expected it to be. Sometimes as he fell asleep he wondered if it
would last.
Jim was widely respected for his business acumen. He had incredible intensity
and focus, a brilliant mind and a strategic vision. Like most highly intelligent
people, he processed information very quickly and, when listening, could
see ten possible solutions to a problem in his mind before the other person
even finished their sentence. When he was in this mode, he looked angry
even though he was just thinking.
Occasionally,
he would explode in anger. It would only last a few minutes, but the
reverberations
would
last for weeks. His anger was legend to all
who knew him. People worked hard to avoid being the subject of his wrath. “The
way he looks at me when I’ve screwed up,” said one of his vice
presidents, “makes me think all I can do is flip hamburgers at McDonald’s.”
John
was shocked by the survey data. When he saw how he interacted with others
on the videotape
he was
again astonished. He said, “I simply
had no idea what people were seeing. No wonder some of them would never
disagree with me in a discussion. I wouldn’t either.” In retrospect,
he said, “I have never received such candid feedback
before.”
The
irony was that underneath the surface he deeply cared about his people
and was truly compassionate. Through coaching,
he learned how to let his compassionate self show.
The focus of the video coaching session was to help this successful man
understand the impact his intensity had on others. He knew he had power
and enjoyed many of its perks, but he never understood how much his behavior
impacted the entire company. He was coached on how to maintain high standards,
but still build the relationships that allowed his people to be more effective.
He
started to truly listen to people and respect their input. People reported
that John was
relaxed,
smiling much more and seemingly enjoying himself
more. In fact, his administrative assistant walked in a few weeks after
his initial ILD session and said, “John, I don’t know what
happened to you in Minneapolis, but I really like it. I don’t feel
like I need to sit on pins and needles any more.”
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